no. blo blonde -- no intent. we have mr. lofkin: we will honor we responsibly and so -- mr. kennedy: and so given that e have now created this industry, that has a younger addicted, that is now what do you want us to do about it? crosthwaite? mr. crosthwaite: congressman, i the recognize that opportunity for the millions of adult smokers who still use to van ble cigarettes alternative is at risk if we don't address this issue. focused on combating underage access. risk if weuts all at don't make progress here. mr. kennedy: sir, how do i trust what you say? crosthwaite: my actions so far since i joined, support our to gnition that more needed be done. >> in hearing continues live online at c-span.org. back in session

this afternoon. today, they're working on 19 dealing with ls veterans' health, water infrastructure, and post offices renaming. live coverage of the house. peak house will be in order. the prayer this morning will be ffered by the guest chap rape, -- by the guest chaplain. >> i stand before you in prayer and memory as i'm reminded of solomon king of ancient israel who would preside over the most unusual judicial hearing, one in which two mothers would lay claim to the life of one child, a child they would each insist to be their own. this passage allows us to see solomon's wisdom as preserving the nation as we are sadly remind sod soon after his death that the kingdom is split

asunder. i too am reminded of abraham lincoln when he spoke with prophetic pressure yens, a house divided cannot stand --s preyens, a house divided cannot stand. from this we would soon learn that our future lies not in enemyity but unify. -- unity. from the book of leviticus, from your torah, teaches us from words inscribed on the liberty bell in philadelphia, proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof. thus uniting one of our nation's highest ideals, e pluribus unum, out of the many, one. lord god, the founders of this nation understood our strength to be in the celebration of our differences while assiduously working to put our divisions behind us.

and so it is, dear god, that we pray you remain with us. continue to guide all of us in realizing the dream of this great country. to be a nation indwissable, a nation seeking liberty, and above all a nation providing liberty and justice to all. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from illinois, mr. lahood. mr. lahood: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline, is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to welcome rabbi seth frisch who delivered today's opening prayer to the people's house. since his ordination in 1986 at seminary theological of america in new york, rabbi frisch has been a source of comfort and counsel to jews world.the in his current posting as rabbi, eacher of the new shul of america, he helped serve as a those what it means to be jewish in a supportive setting. opening prayer was a homecoming as he previously served as legislative assistant to the chairman of the senate committee on foreign relations. i pray that we will all heed his out of many weat are one nation. let us strive to put our divisions behind us and realize of a country indivisible with liberty and justice for all. and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 one-minute uests for speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. you, madam speaker. i rise in recognition of violence survivors week, a time when we remember the tragic and life altering of gun violence epidemic that continues to affect thousands of families across the country. every year 36,000 are killed by gun violence. n my city alone an average of 765 people die from gun violence every year. families y: too many have been touched by this violence. too many young people go to afraid, too many americans live in fear. last night, the president's tate of the union only mentioned firearms once and

instead of presenting a plan, it defended the n.r.a. we owe it to every survivor and to everyone who's been touched gun violence to do more than hold a moment of silence or post a hashtag on twitter. we owe the american people real action. thank you and i yield back. tempore: the o gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? i thompson: madam speaker, ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. rise and thank one of the most productive job-producing constituents in my tawny phil -- punxsutawney phil. predicted an early spring for the second year in a row. ut that's not the only good news. on groundhog day draws tens of thousands of tourists to county each year while -- revenue.

activists claimed that should be y phil robotic one.y a phil is a job. i stand up for the hardworking rodents in the 15th district.nal groundhog day brings together people of all backgrounds. an economic nly stimuli but it's with great pride. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the back.eman yields for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, today, i rise ecause there is an epidemic in our country. 100 americans die every day from gun violence. likely to imes more

die from guns than people who nations.omparable mr. cardenas: gun violence is personal to me. young boy, my sister took her life with my father's revolver. 2014, my community was isla tated by the v.i.p.sa -- vista shooting that four people and injured six. my bipartisan : extreme risk protection order ensure people demonstrate that they are at or of hurting themselves others temporarily don't have access to guns. the bill passed out of the committee. ask the house to bring this legislation to the floor. sent two has already bipartisan background check bills to the senate. yet, senate majority leader has not acted. there is no excuse. i will continue to rise until we end this epidemic.

madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? > i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to highlight the importance of protecting the econd amendment to the constitution. in my district, commissioners in davey, north carolina, recently passed resolutions that imply affirm the second amendment rights of the residents and declared that these counties will never infringement the of those rights through unconstitutional gun control. in -gun politicians neighboring virginia and other states are trying to undermine nd overturn the second amendment. mr. budd: these why these measures in my state are both timely.y and i commend these counties and i remain fully committed to defending the rights of law-abiding gun owners. adam speaker, it's a people problem, not a device problem.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is minute.zed for one mr. rose: thank you, madam speaker. t pains me to stand before you today and recognize -- >> thank you, madam speaker. to stand before you gun violence week. we saw another school devastated by gun violence. another community uncertain how to move forward. our country is faced with a it's our idemic and responsibility as lawmakers to take action to protect our communities. have why i'm proud to joined senator warren, congressman hank johnson and a introduceolleagues to the gun prevention in communities safety act. morrelle: my bill will prevent the theft of legal firearms. in a crime guns used

are identified as stolen and we keep out of the hands of the wrong people is a safer -- closer to a safer reality. thank you. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina ?eek recognition mr. wilson: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: i am a champion of and a school excellence steadfast supporter of magnet schools. president e that trump praised mag nent schools was included in last night's state of the union. week, i had the opportunity magnet school in irma, south carolina. is one school that shows importance for academic excellence. i had an opportunity to talk to

teachers about their unique educational experiences. talk to nkful to katrina, the director of school district 5 in richland county. principal julia scott. principal brandon gant. school district 5 magnet sarah shirley cope. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget global war and the on terrorism. with the courageous leadership trump.ident donald the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today n honor of mark and david carls, who brothers with an unbreakable bond. mr. rose: ever since they were up on staten island, mark and his older rother, david, have been absolutely inseparatable.

was -- inseparable. when mark was diagnosed with cancer, david postponed his aseball career to take care of his brother. while mark was using a breathing speak, the e to brothers communicated using sign language. fter a life-threatening surgery, the first thing mark did was sign david's name. is a talented runner, who with david's support, refused to get in the way of his training. hether it was doing laps down hospital corridors or running around the dining room table. even others have encouraged their father, sandy, to run with them as well. for road races together. mark recently finished the 5-k n island athletic club in under 24 minutes. mark and david, your deep commitment to one another is an to staten island,

all of new york city, and all of america. you're a fighter. your family, your friends, and all those who you fight for as well. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the entleman from illinois seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today congratulate nd metamora high school head football coach pat ryan who his retirement after 30 years at the helm of the program. the redbirds to seven championship games and two state titles. retires with a record of illinois spot in the football hall of fame. coach ryan's greatness is known across central illinois. lahood: his players love him, his students love him or him, or at least competing against him.

not only is coach ryan a legend n the field, but his success off the field in modeling young men is unrivalled and unmatched. ryan coached thousands of students and left a profound impact on the lives of countless players. many of his former players have become educators and coaches and attribute to their career paths to coach ryan theirositive influence on lives. congratulations to coach ryan field. and off the he has made central illinois a etter place and will be missed on friday nights. congratulations on your hall of fame career, coach. and go, redbirds. back.d the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from the virgin islands seek recognition? ms. plaskett: i ask unanimous to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. plaskett: i urge every one my colleagues to use black history month to celebrate the contributions of people who came hemisphere not of their

own free will. in chains and bondage and then make this country great. it's important that we not only and their hem contributions with you their example of resilience. reid, who was an enslaved the statue ped with who sits atop this building and insulated the statue of freedom. walker who became the first woman to preside over a savings institutions, which depression reat consolidated to become the consolidated bank and trust, today.till exists ralph bunch, an american diplomat, fundamental to the reation and adoption of the universal declaration of human rights. be the r went on to first african-american to win the nobel peace prize for his negotiation efforts between and israel. william of st. croix, master vessel, rancher, gold miner and one of the founders of san francisco. hese americans are quietly embedded in our nation's

history, but today, this month, their work, them, and their dedication. i yield back. the peaker pro tempore: gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek ecognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today to recognize eider m simbings ch for his 34 years of service to the water agency. he's devoted his career to solving these critical issues. mr. lamalfa: the worked to make pcwa the local leader in water rights by overseeing a clear and transparent budget process, increasing customer accessibility to the agency and expanding its influence on walter issues. throughout his tenure, he's prioritized the needs and interests of the customers and community. his work will leave a lasting impact on water planning for decades to come. we are thankful for all he's

done. thank you and i wish you best luck in your much deserved and probably busier retirement. please keep your knowledge and experience available to all of us. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today to honor gun violence survivors week. mr. payne: every year, roughly 36,000 americans are killed from gun violence. this is an average of 100 americans every single day. also, there are close to 100,000 americans injured every year from gun violence. yet we do very little to prevent these preventable injuries and deaths. i'm proud to come from a state

with effective gun laws. in new jersey we have strong background checks, a ban on high capacity magazines, and an extreme risk protection order for possible victims. that is why new jersey has one of the lowest firearm death rates in america. if we had national laws such as the ones in new jersey, we could save lives and spare families the hurt and horrors of gun violence. with that, madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, madam speaker. for far too long, we have failed to serve veterans struggling with the invisible wounds of war. veterans who nearly gave everything to us. for veterans who served in

vietnam and korea, to those who recently returned home from afghanistan and iraq, congress has done too little to curb the often devastating effects of post-traumatic stress -- devastating effects post-traumatic stress can have on the lives of men and women who served in combat. mr. cunningham: that's why i'm pleased to support representative stiverts' bipartisan bill to help veterans in the low country and across the nation to manage the symptoms of post-traumatic stress by pairing them with trained service dogs. with the help of service dog many veterans are able to return to work, attend college and spend more meaningful time with their family and loved ones. the brave men and women who voluntarily raise their right hands and swore an oath to defend our nation deserve nothing less than the opportunity to succeed when they return home. this act is a critical step in the right direction. i urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan

legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: i solemnly swear that in all things ap pertaining to the impeachment otrial of donald j. trump, president of the united states, now pending, i will do impartial justice. according to the constitution and laws. that is the oath senators swore on january 16. s the oath created by senators when they tried the first impeachment of a president in 1868. it is an oath rooted in the revolution fought by their

grandparents to create a republic of laws. not kings. it is an oath whose power derives from its commonsense that a juror must always be impartial for a trial to be fair. and it is an oath made necessary by the fact that senators are not, as we are not, under normal circumstances impartial in our work. the words chosen for this oath recognize that when our constitution calls senators to try impeachment, it calls them away from their role as partisans. when that oath is taken, senators are supposed to step back from the affiliation of party or political kinship with or opposition to the president on trial. they are required as the oath plainly states, do impartial

justice according to the constitution and laws. madam speaker, this afternoon, senators will be asked to vote on the two articles of impeachment the house presented on abuse of power and the obstruction of congress. after voting to refuse to hear evidence and call witnesses with pertinent information, nearly all republican senators have already announced that they will vote against the articles. in doing so, many of them acknowledge that the president -- that president trump did was wrong and inappropriate. they accept that it was wrong for him to withhold military aid to ukraine until the president of that country promised to interfere in the american elections. the evidence of president trump's abuse of power and attempt to solicit foreign

interference in the 2020 elections is clear enough that republican senators cannot and have not denied the facts. yet they cannot bring themselves to confront this president and are choosing party over country. the senator from alaska, in explaining her decision to vote to block witnesses and evidence, tried to deflect responsibility. from the consequences of her action writing, and i quote, i have come to the conclusion that there will be no fair trial in the senate. i agree with that. she further said, it is sad for me today to admit that as an institution, the congress has failed. madam speaker, the congress has not failed. the house did its job, whether you agree or not, in regular order, by a vote of this house,

we impeached the president of the united states. based upon our oath to protect and defend the constitution. of the united states. the house did its job. and did so with a solemnnyity required when undertaking the process of impeachment, which we did not seek but accepted as our responsibility under the constitution. we held hearings. we called witnesses. subpoenaed documents. and many of the witnesses and documents, of course, were with held by the white house. it is the senate that will fail if senators do not uphold their oath to impartial justice. it is the senate, madam speaker, that will fail if it does not hold this president accountable for using a hold on military aid to compel an ally to interfere

in our election for his own personal gain. history will judge poorly those who choose fear of their party over the courage to do the right thing. neither the speaker nor myself nor the whip, jim clyburn, urged any member in our party to vote ny way on impeachment. there was no lobbying. there was no pressure. our members voted consistent with their oath of office and the conviction that that vote was required by that oath to protect and defend the constitution. americans will judge. i'm often asked why the house passed articles of impeachment even knowing that the odds were slim that senate republicans

would set aside partisanship and hear the case as impartial jurors. it's because i know future generations will look back on this chapter in our history and ask, who stood up for the constitution and the laws? who stood up for the values our founders charged us to keep? who refused to shrink from the heavy responsibilities of their oath? and i can be proud that the house did its job. followed the law. defended our constitution. we did not conviction, that's not our role. we said there was probable cause that powers had been abused. and certainly cause to see that the president refused to cooperate with the constitutional responsibilities of the house of representatives. i am also proud of the house managers, as all of my colleagues on the democratic side of the aisle are proud of

our managers, who made their case. they made their case with intellect, they made their case with evidence that had been adduced here in the house, they made their case and appealed to senators to hold this president accountable. s our founders intended. almost everybody has watched the trial either in person or on television. a trial is not an opening argument. and a closing argument. with nothing in between. 75% of our people wanted to have witnesses. because that was their understanding of what a trial. is not just argument at the beginning and argument at the end but evidence for jurors who have pledged to be impafferrble to consider. -- to be impartial to consider. any judge in this country would agree that opening and closing

statements alone are not a trial. nevertheless, the house managers proved their case. the truth is clear. the american people know what that truth is and know what this president has done. they will remember who on this day abided by the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered, or votes objected to under clause 6 of rule 20. the house will resume proceedings on postponed questions at a later time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i move, madam speaker, that

the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4305 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4305, a bill to direct the secretary of veterans affairs to carry out a pilot program on dog training therapy. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. takano, and the gentleman from tennessee, mr. roe, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. takano: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on h.r. 4305 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. takano: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. takano: i rise in support of the puppies assisting wounded service members for veterans therapy act, otherwise known as the paws act, introduced by representative stivers of ohio. this bill has more than 300

co-sponsor, which put it on the consensus calendar. it reflect this is chamber's desire to pass legislation addressing veterans' mental health which i strongly support. the bill calls for v.a. to establish a five-year pilot program to make grants available to appropriate nongovernmental entities, quote, for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of addressing post-deployment mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms through a therapeutic medium of training service dogs for veterans with disabilities -- disabilities, end quote. madam speaker, or mr. speaker, i think everyone in this room today can agree that dogs, animals more broadly speaking, make great companions. in 2018, americans spent $72 billion on their pet. -- pets. years have illustrated numerous outcomes, including lowered blood pressure. i intend to vote yes on this

bill but i do have concerns about this bill becoming law before v.a.'s study examining the possible therapeutic benefits of veterans with ptsd receiving either a service dog or an emotional support dog is complete. . it's important we understand the fficacy of providing veterans with ptsd with either type of dog. relying on a dog for far different s than using dogs as a form of behavioral health treatment. mr. speaker, like any other or tment, therapy, pharmaceutical provided to veterans, research must be performed so informed policy and treatment decisions can be made. a draft is currently undergoing review by the national academy of sciences. v.a. anticipates having a final report to congress not later of july, 2020.

before this bill was placed on calendar, i had hoped to wait to have the so we canf this study properly review and mark up this legislation, ensuring veterans evidence-basedive treatment for ptsd. mr. speaker, we are passing this without scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of service dogs of ptsd.reatment however, i support this bill its placement on the consensus calendar reflects the of the members of this chamber and years of research ave shown positive health outcomes of owning dogs for companionship. with our to work senate colleagues to improve and strengthen this legislation so diagnosedure veterans with ptsd receive effective treatments. mr. speaker, i reserve the time.e of my the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is

recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. rise in support of h.r. 4305, as amended, the puppies assisting wounded service members for veterans therapy or the paws act. this bill is sponsored by ongressman steve stivers from ohio. steve is a big deer general in he -- brigadier general in the army national guard where he three iform for over decades. needless to say, he knows toll that military service can take and the need -- he need to ensure that the department of veterans affairs is equipped to provide our the services all and supports that they need to not only recover from their war but to lead healthy, full, meaningful lives civilians. the paws act would provide v.a. with an additional tool to accomplish that goal by roviding grants to

organizations to assist veterans struggling with posttraumatic mentaldisorder and other health challenges through service dog training. eterans participating in the program would be paired with a perspective service dog and work ith qualified service dog training instructors to train the dog as a certified service animal. at the conclusion of the training, if the veteran and the ineran's provider agree it's the best interest of the veteran, the veteran will be able to keep their dog or it paired with another veteran in need. the grant program that the paws based on create is service dog training therapy walter reed national medical center in maryland, and palo alto v.a. center in california. hey have shown remarkably positive antidotal outcomes for service members and veterans who've gone through them. come as a surprise to any dog owner, me included, that he companionship and

unconditional love offered by powerfult friend has a real-world healing effects. the old saying in washington, if a dog.t a friend, get i am glad that this program will effort and as well that unique assistance trained service dogs provides to more of our nation's heroes. by 321ll is co-sponsored of our house colleagues. a tremendous bipartisan show of that's reflective of the desire of this body to care for who have borne the battles and struggling with invisible injuries as a result. grateful to general steve stivers for his hard work getting this bill to the house i'm happy to nd support it. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the peaker pro tempore: gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. takano: mr. speaker, at this to yield two minutes to my good friend, the ms.lewoman from new jersey,

sherrill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. sherrill: thank you, takano. i rise today in support of h.r. for veterans therapy act. this important bipartisan pilot tion will create a program within the department of veterans affairs to give access to treatment derived from working with service dogs. i'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the gentleman from ohio, epresentative stivers, for his tireless leadership on this legislation. i deeply appreciate his edication to our nation's veterans. mr. speaker, thousands of 20% ans between 11% and experience posttraumatic stress disorder. too many of the men and women our country return home with unseen trauma that can ake it hard to carry out daily activities like going to work or going to school. we owe it to our veterans to the sure they have resources they need to recover. in november, i had the to spend some time

with a vietnam veteran named walter parker and his service jackson. walter shared how his partnership with jackson has life.ically improved his jackson helps walter participate in activities that we all take or granted like going to the movies or the grocery store. their bond has been instrumental continuing recovery. unique.y is not researchers, doctors report the -- thing, service dogs do elp the invisible injuries of war. this bill had help create work programs that help veterans learn the art and science of training dogs. completing the program, the veterans may adopt their dogs to provide continued therapy. mission-based therapy has been proven to be a successful means and this g ptsd, legislation awill enable more veterans access the care that provide.dogs can

mr. speaker, walter and jackson and countless other vets and their service dogs are proof therapy works. we owe it to our veterans to explore creative ways to help so after they have given much to our country. i urge my colleagues to importa -- support this important and innovative legislation and give and ans the treatment support they deserve. i yield back. mr. takano: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield four good friend, general, congressman steve stivers. give a shout out to ron desantis, now governor ron championed this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. r. stivers: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank the gentleman from tennessee for yielding time. this bill is indeed a blending a bill that governor desantis had in the last congress and a ill we had in the last congress. and now we now have 321 o-sponsors on this bill, mr.

speaker. as you know, our members service members returning from war sometimes have invisible wounds. commander in operation iraqi freedom and soldiers under my command came posttraumatic stress disorder and indeed some even with traumatic brain injury. see the links we between military service and ental health conditions, including posttraumatic stress as well as traumatic brain even suicide. mr. speaker, we lose 20 veterans a day to suicide. congress mass to -- has to work to address this situation. suicide alth and the epidemic that are facing veterans can't be solved with a single solution. it's important we look at this comprehensively and come up blocks as y building we can to address this crisis. that's why i introduced the paws for veterans' therapy act which is based on clinical evidence meanta and perm

purdue university. he act would establish a pilot program within the department of veterans affairs, authorizing he secretary to give grants to local service dog training organizations so they can work with veterans and veterans can training to train service dogs and also end up service dog if it's appropriate for them. this effort has been 10 years in making, and it's time that e actually bring it to conclusion. i'm grateful that so many of my colleagues support it. i want to give a special thanks to kathleen rice, my lead democratic co-sponsor, and the who worked on s this bill. i also want to thank the majority leader, steny hoyer, floor nging it to the today. 321 members of congress don't agree on a lot, but they agree got to address the problem of access suicide and give theeterans to serve dogs if

veteran has posttraumatic stress. there is a senate bill. two ll passed the house years ago but died in the senate. senate version that's bipartisan. i am anticipate hopeful -- i'm that done y will get in post -- in quick order here. we owe it to these veterans to solutions to treat their mental health and their issues. since it was brought up, i do mention this v.a. study as authorized in the 2010 national defense authorization act. it's 2020. years.10 and in that time, it was started, studied for four years, halted, then it began again. it's been delayed three times, out ow they say it may be in june. i'm hopeful that it is, but we can't wait any longer. can't wait any longer. in the interim, this has been andied at perdue university

kaiser and the studies were conclusive. of service dogs works. the results are undisputed. there's less anxiety. veterans are on fewer drugs. there's a lower instance of suicide. any longer to address this crisis. we must pass this bill today. on preciate my colleagues both sides of the aisle. urge them to support h.r. 4305. god bless our veterans. it's time we give them the help they needed. yield back the balance of my time. mr. roe: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. is gentleman from california recognized. mr. takano: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two good friend, the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. slotkin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. chair, i rise . in support of the paws for act.ans therapy i'm incredibly proud to be co-leading this bipartisan bill connect veterans with service dogs in their communities and improve outcomes for veterans' health and well-being.

there are two amazing organizations in livingston district that train dogs and place them with veterans in need. hal, n service dogs in michigan, and blue star service pinkner. i had -- pinkney. it was incredible to see these hear directly and from veterans about how service dogs are helping them heal from depression, ptsd, and so many invisible service-related wounds. both organizations are doing work for veterans in our community, and i want to salute them. today sets fore us up a pilot program through the v.a. to partner with local the ones , just like in my district, to create work therapy program for veterans, to of expand the number veterans who can access the benefits of trapping and adopting a service dog. issue is particularly personal to me. i'm an army wife, i'm married to 30-year army officer and apache pilot. i have a stepdaughter currently active duty.

a son-in-law on active duty. and my other stepdaughter is a v.a.cian at the while we make the decision to send men and women to fight for our country, we make the them for theupport rest of their lives. that is a nonpartisan responsibility. be more clearer wemore urgent, especially as recognize the staggering rate of suicide in the veteran community. every day an average of 17 are victims to suicide. think about that. within the community of veterans that served in iraq and afghanistan, more veterans have to lost to suicide than combat, which is both devastating and unacceptable. veterans therapy act will have real impact on improving the well-being of our veterans. to a u need to do is talk veteran suffering from depression or ptsd to understand does for ing a dog their lives. i'm incredibly proud, also, what this bill represents, a group of democrats and republicans

finding an area of strong common ground and pushing legislation that could have significant impact. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. takano: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. tennessee is from recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield good friend o my and fellow colleague from ennessee, congressman john rows. the speaker pro tempore: -- congressman john rose. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. rose: mr. speaker, i rise in paws for veterans therapy act. i thank the distinguished gentleman from tennessee for time and for is his service to the good people of tennessee. also wholeheartedly thank representative stivers for approaching me about this outstanding policy proposal. is leadership on this issue truly appreciated by me, but more importantly, by america's veterans. will we're enjoying a time of

unparalleled economic growth in my lifetime, a safer and more cure nation and 243 years of enduring freedom made possible in no small part by the sacrifice of our service members, we also live in a time when approximately 20 veterans are lost to suicide every day. this heart break regularality calls us to action. research has demonstrated the powerful effect of service dogs in the lives of those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. these loyal companions have been shown to lead to stronger mental health, greater purpose in life, and renewed hope. today i stand up for our veterans in tennessee and all our veterans across the country who would find support from paws. i invite my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join us in supporting our veterans and vote for paws for therapy -- for

veterans therapy act and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognize. mr. takano: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time it's my privilege to yield three minutes to michael walz, army veteran, florida's 6th. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise in support of this important legislation, h.r. 4305, the paws act. as a combat veteran i have personally relied on service dogs in battle, we all recently witnessed the important role that service dogs play in combat roles and in national security en we saw conan, the belgian

malinois, displayed in the raid hat killed isis leader baghdadi. mr. waltz: there's no denying these connections. the support they provide our veterans put that connection in an entirely different level of importance. many of our veterans return back from service not the same as when they left. i can personally attest to that. they have three bad choices. either they don't come home they come home missing limbs or they come home, when you've been in combat, different mentally than when they left. these invisible wounds often make life very difficult for our veterans. we owe them. and the least we can do is provide a full menu of options to their providers, to their medical providers, when they need help, whether those are medicines, whether those are things unconventional treatments

like hyperbaric chambers, whether they're service dogs. that should be one of the options that our providers provide. i had the personal opportunity to meet with several veterans that have benefited from these service animals in my district last year and their stories were just incredible. and the common theme amongst all of them was that they either completely eliminated or drastically reduced the amount of medication that they were on as a result of ptsd, depression, and anxiety. almost all of these veterans had service dogs in their lives, not only reduced their medication, they got out more, they socialized more, the dogs served as an important and positive forcing function in their lives. i think this legislation is lock overdue. this is long overdue for the v.a. to provide. i love the fact that it engages

our veterans service organizations like k-9 for warriors that is just north of my district in st. john's county, and others. these dogs can be life changing. and they have been life changing. and they should continue to be and they should be provided by us, by our society, that owes these vets so much. our veterans deserve to live happy lives after their service. we should do everything we can to ensure their well being. i urge my colleagues to pass this important bill, i thank my colleague, representative roe and representative stirse, for their leadership and we all -- representative stivers for their leadership and we all should let them know, let the veterans know , that we stand with them on their path to healing. i yield back my time. mr. roe: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. takano: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves.

the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: i have no further speakers and i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. i strongly encourage my colleagues to support this needed legislation. i associate my remarks with what mr. waltz just stated. anyone who has ever had the joy, as i have, through my entire life, to be -- i guess to have those animals, the dogs, associated with me, have been uplifting in my life. i know they can be help to these people. it's been mentioned many times we have not been making a dent in our suicide and it's time to start thinking out of the box. i strongly encourage my colleagues to support this. with this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. takano: i have no further speakers. i ask my colleagues to join me in passing h.r. 4305 as amended. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4305 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid n the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4044, the protect and restore america's estuaries act, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 44 -- 4044, a bill to amend the federal water pollution control act to re-authorize the national

estuary program and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. malinowski, and the gentleman from florida, mr. mast, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. malinowski: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r. 4044 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. malinowski: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. malinowski: i'm proud to lead this bipartisan re-authorization of the national estuary program. a successful, nonregulatory program to improve water quality and coe logical integrity of our nation's estuaries. a program with a long history of support on both sides of the

aisle. estuaries are extraordinarily productive ecosystems where fresh watter from rivers and streams mixes with salt watter from the ocean. in my district, my home state of new jersey, the new york-new jersey harbor and estuary program encompasses some 250 square miles of open water elizabethparts of the and hackensack rivers. my bill, the protect and restore america's estuaries act makes several important improvements to this program. first it nearly doubles funding for the program's 28 estuaries of national significance including new york, new jersey, harbor and estuary program. it ensures that management plans governing nationally significant estuaries consider the effects of recurring extreme weather events and they develop and

implement appropriate adaptation strategies. it expands eligibility for grants under the program to organizations working to address storm water runoff, coastal resiliency, and accelerated land loss issues. and it requires the n.e.p. management, the regional conferences, that are part of the n.e.p., to develop and implement strategies to increase local awareness about the ecological health and water of estuaries. it is hard to overstate just how important estuaries are to the broader marine ecology. they are sometimes referred to as the nurseries of the sea. because of the vast and diverse array of marine animals that spanned -- spend the early parts of their lives in them, with their calm waters providing safe habitat for smaller birds and other animals as well as for spawning and nesting. furthest wares act as stopover

sites for migratory animals including duck and geese and salmon. they filter pollutants from rivers and streams before they flow into the ollings and protect inland air grass flooding with their broad and shallow waters able to absorb sudden storm surges. they are the natural infrastructure that protects human communities from flooding. and they are -- and they are -- of course they also help the economies of every community that relies on fishing and tourism and recreation. so it is my privilege to play a role in protecting and strengthening these critical ecosystems and in preserving the natural beauty of my state of new jersey. i want to thank my colleague on the transportation and train structure committee, congressman graves, for teaming up with me on this bill. congressman graves is a longtime champion for the estuary system in his district and i'm glad to partner with him. i want to thank congresswoman

napolitano for her leadership on -- of the water subcommittee. i want to thank congresswoman fletcher for her support as an original co-sponsor and congressman larson for making the bill even stronger as well as more than two dozen of my colleagues, democrats and republicans alike, who have co-sponsored this bill. thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mast: i rise in support as well of h.r. 4044, the protect and restore america's estuaries act. i also want to thank my colleague from new jersey, mr. malinowski, for introducing this legislation. our chairwoman, mrs. napolitano, mr. graves, everybody that's worked on this outstanding bill that we want to see move forward here that's moved forward so many other times. h.r. 4044 re-authorizes the

national estuary program which focuses onest wiferse national significance across the nation, including one in my own backyard very literally, the indian river lagoon, heart and soul of my district. estuaries, they're not just critical natural habitats that provide enormous economic benefits. but they're a part of our way of life for those of us that live anywhere near them or around them. they're where we go fishing. where we see our children reck reuate and wade in the watt -- recreate and wade in the waters. it's where we see people spend their summers, travel to come and see the watt thergs blue waters and the fish an everything else that thrives in those ecosystems. the national estuary program is pivotal to the preservation of these very unique ecosystems and provides an enormous return on the taxpayers investment. on average it's said the estuary

program raises $19 for every $1 provided by the environmental protection agency. it's because of this and many other reasons that i see on a day-to-day basis with the estuaries in my backyard that i want to urge support of this legislation and i now reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. malinowski: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from washington, mr. larsen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. larsen: thank you. i rise today in support of h.r. 4044, the protect and restore america's estuaries act. a bipartisan piece of legislation to re-authorize and improve the national estuary program or the n.e.p. i want to thank representative malinowski for his leadership on preserving our nation's estuaries as well. puget sound where i'm from is the largest estuary by water volume in the contiguous united

states and the waters and wildlife are corner stones of northwest washington's environment, culture, and maritime economy. as co-chair of the congressional estuary caucus, i strongly support efforts to ensure robust federal investment in the national estuary program and its vital projects. which is why i'm very pleased to support the protect and restore america's estuaries act. this critical legislation re-authorizes the national estuary program through fiscal year 2026. and increasing funding for this critical program for $50 million annually. h.r. 4044 is -- also includes language i authored making clear that the n.e.p. competitive funds must be allocated for n.e.p. listed estuaries or projects that relate to these estuaries' coastal resiliency. this will help ensure that the environmental protection agency follows congressional intent for n.e.p. dollars to support local

estuary restoration projects. look forward to voting for h.r. 44 -- 4044 to ensure local communities across the country can continue their work to protect and restore estuaries. on a related note i also want to rise in support of the puget s.o.s. act which will be considered later today introduced by my colleagues the delegation, representatives heck and kilmer. this bill will improve and expand federal engagement in pudget sound recovery efforts. at times when climate change threaten co-als communities throughout the northwest and u.s., that they endanger iconic species such as the resident killer whale, federal engagement and invest n-estuary restoration must be a priority. with that, thank you mr. speaker. i yield back. mr. malinowski: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: i'd like to yield as much time as she may consume to

the gentlewoman from puerto rico, miss gonzalez-colon. miss gonzalez-colon: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, congressman mast, for yielding. i rise in support of h.r. 4044 to row spect and restore america's estuary act which i'm a proud co-sponsor. the program is an initiative committed to protecting and restoring the water quality and ecological integrity of 28 estuaries across the country, including the one in san juan bay estuary program in my congressional district. this estuary is the only tropical estuary in the program and the only one outside the continental u.s. it also provides habitat for 160 species of birds, 200 species of wetlands, 124 species of fish, and 20 species of amphibians and reptiles, including endangered animals including hawks bill, and leather back turtles. the san juan bay annually

receives 80% of imports from puerto rico through docks and ports throughout the system. playing a crucial role for the island's economy. last year alone, the estuary received $9.5 million visitors, numbers only expected to increase as the island recovers from the past hurricanes. these estuary aids in flood prevention for the island's metropolitan area, which is located within the boundaries of the estuary. i want to thank the chairman and ranking minority member for bringing this bill forward and i'm going to be for it and i think it's a great initiative not just to protect it but also caring for all our wetlands in the nation. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. mr. mast: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. malinowski: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, miss nope. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. miss nope: thank you, mr.

speaker. -- miss -- miss indianapolis: thank you, mr. speaker. i re-authorize the very popular estuary program and allows for more active measures to be eligible for the program. the bipartisan support has of its because widespread popularity, i am pleased that several members in a bipartisan manner on the committee have co-sponsored a bill. the bill represents a commitment to our coastal area anti-vital role they play in economic drivers, natural water filters, and protection from flooding events. i urge strongly that e.p.a. and look forrk together to more estuaries that can be elinge for the program. i ask my colleagues to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore:

gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. malinowski: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. malinowski: i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. you reserve? mr. malinowski: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. 4 mast: mr. speaker, h.r. 4 will have a profound impact on districts across america. that's a fact. that's why i'm here to support it today. it includes my own district by increasing public education and awareness around the health conditions of estuaries. the indian river lagoon as i spoke about is one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in all of north america. a major economic driver for the five counties it borders. the lagoon faces enormous

challenges year after year, summer after summer. but through the national estuary program, there has been a pilot skill demonstration of sea grass restoration. which is one of the biggest challenges that we face. the destruction of our sea grass each year is like a forest fire underneath the waters of our estuary. a storm water quality improvement projects, and many other projects and initiatives which are vital to the survival of our estuary are all implemented here. with the protect and restore america's estuaries act, we will build on the enormous success of the national estuary program. it's why i couldn't be more proud to support it. i urge the support and adoption of this bipartisan piece of legislation. and i now yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. malinowski: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to submit to the record

tters of support for h.r. 44 from the new york-new jersey harbor estuary program. from the barataria tara bone estuary program. the puget sound partnership. santa monica bay. and the lower columbia estuary partnership. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. malinowski: with that, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support the legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4044. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey -- mr. malinowski: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the

yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise. and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1132, the san francisco bay restoration act, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1132, a bill to amend the federal water

pollution control act to establish a grant program to support the restoration of san francisco bay. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano, and the gentleman from florida, mr. mast, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and include remarks extraneous material on h.r. 1132, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i rise in support of 1132 introduced by ms. speier from california that builds off existing bay restoration work under e.p.a.'s natural estuary program. in my home state of california, the importance of a healthy water set and improved water quality has never been more

apparent. in fact, the san francisco bay estuary drains more than 40% of our state's water. that's why i'm thankful to see several of my colleagues from california as original co-sponsors, including members of the committee, mr. garamendi, mr. huffman. at our june hearing the committee -- subcommittee learned about the ongoing sources of pollution of these 1,600 square mile estuary. simultaneously habitat destruction has forever changed the geography of the area. more than 90% of shoreline wetland and 40% of the total aquatic ecosystem has been lost. this new program office will concentrate federal efforts to address water quality changes and ecosystem health in the bay. this will improve the environment economy -- and economy from the bay area region that is home to eight million people and the annual g.d.p. of $.75 billion. i support h.r. 1132 and urge my

colleagues to do the same. i want to submit for the record letters of support from 1132, san francisco bay area restoration act from the national audubon society and save the bay. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. napolitano: mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mast: i also rise in support of h.r. 1132. h.r. 1132 represents good governance by codifying the e.p.a.'s existing work in the san francisco bay area. the bay area water shed provides a primary source of drinking water for over 25 million people, irrigation for 7,000 square miles of agriculture, and includes important economic resources such as water supply infrastructure, ports, deep water shipping canals, major highway and railroad corridors and energy lines. i would like to urge support of

this legislation and i now i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i wish to yield ms. speier from california such time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. speier: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady from california, my good friend. today we are taking up the san francisco bay restoration act. it's legislation i introduced every year since 2010. since then the environmental conditions of the bay have only grown worse. the bay is the heart of the region with a vibrant ecosystem which is home to the largest estuary on the west coast. it generates more than $370 billion in goods and services annually, and is home to more than 3.5 million jobs. 40% of the land in california drains to the estuary, as my colleagues have mentioned. it also is home to more than 100 endangered and threatened species. the region's tidal and seasonal

wetlands comprise a significant part of america's coastal resources. yet over the past 200 years, 90% of the bay's wetlands have been destroyed by human activity. increased pollution from cars, homes, and communities in san francisco have absorbed into various creeks, rivers, and streams that flow into the bay and the pacific ocean. by 2030, the expected sea level rise in the bay area will exceed the rate at which the mashes can elevate and move, effectively drowning them. despite the impending threats, federal efforts for bay restoration and pollution mitigation vs. failed to meet the enormous needs. between 2008 and 2016, e.p.a. geographic programs invested only $45 million in the san francisco bay. while puget sound received over $260 million. chesapeake bay, $490 million. that's 10 times as much. and the disparity becomes more

pronounced when you consider the population served. a mere $6 was spent on the bay for each resident of the bay area while almost $30 was spent for each resident living near chesapeake bay, and almost $60 per resident near puget sound. the most recent round of appropriations and early 2018, the san francisco bay appropriations remained at 4 $8 million while smaller geographic programs received substantially more, including lake champlain with $8.3 million, and long island sound with $12 million. the san francisco bay restoration act will authorize $25 million annually for five years to fund water quality improvement efforts, wetland and fware restoration, endangered species recovery, and adaptation to climate change. with that i yield back the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman fre serves. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. >> i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i thank the gentlelady. i want to commend my colleague, jackie speier, for her leadership on this issue and thanks also to the ranking member for recognizing the importance of -- the critical national importance of the san francisco bay estuary. i have the fortune of representing a beautiful district that start theats oregon border but goes down to the golden gate bridge. that means i represent a good portion of san francisco bay, the north bay, where we understand all too well how much we've lost. 90% of the bay's wetlands have been destroyed. starting a century and a half ago there's been incredible degradation of this vital estuary, beginning with the gold rush, continuing the massive water diversions and pollution

input the diking of wetlands and so on. mr. huffman: despite that degradation, san francisco bay continues to play a vital role ecologically in our region, an even greater role economically. we have billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity every year as a product of san francisco bay. outdoor recreation, commercial and recreational fishing, travel and tourism and we also see the very real benefits in san francisco bay area of coastal resiliency, using natural systems as a buffer against rising sea levels. the citizens of the nine county bay area have stepped up. we recognize the importance, the national importance, of this resource and we supported a balance -- a ballot measure to support restoration funding. now it's time for the federal government to do its part. that's why i'm pleased to support congresswoman speier's bill, the san francisco bay restoration act, to provide the

much-needed federal partnership to help improve water quality, to revive the bay area's wetlands and protect our coastal communities and economy. i thank the gentlelady for the time and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlewoman reserve? the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from california. mrs. napolitano: i would like to inquire of mr. mast if he's ready to close. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman from florida ready to close. mr. mast: i'm ready to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mast: mr. speaker, i urge support of this important legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. he yielded back and he closed. mrs. napolitano: i do urge my colleagues to support the legislation and yield back the alance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r.h.r. 1132 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2242, the promoting united government efforts to save our sound act, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2247, a bill to amend the federal water

pollution control act prorkvide assistance for programs and activities to protect the water quality of puget sound and for other purposesful the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano, and the gentleman from florida, mr. mast, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 2247 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. napolitano: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. napolitano: h.r. 2247 would establish a new office within e.p.a. to enhance rehabilitation efforts for puget sound in washington state. introduced by mr. heck and mr. kilmer, h.r. 2247 builds off an existing program for the sound

under the national estuary program. the bill authorizes $50 million an cruelly over five years to establish a puget sound federal leadership task force that will be responsible for coordinating the wide-ranging priorities for recovery of the region. we heard in our subcommittee hearing in june that human development has degraded the water quality and habitats of the sound. we need to do more to protect our iconic waters like puget sound on which 4357b9 million people rely for food, clean water and other ecosystem services. we also know that the health of these waterways impacts critical species such as salmon, the orca whale and other wildlife across the state. the sound has been a member of the national estuary program since 19 8, engaging in a wide range of habitat protection. water quality improvement and monitoring, but a recent g.a.o. study found that the threat, the

-- the threat the sound faces outpace efforts to combat them. in short we must support a more direct approach to helping the entire puget sound recover. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 22447 and i want to submit for the record letters of support from northwest indian fisheries commission, puget sound partnership and the national audubon society. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. napolitano: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mast: i rise in support of h.r. 2247. h.r. 2247 represents good governance by codifying the environmental protection agency's restoration activities in the puget sound. the puget sound is the nation's second larblingest estuary, supporting more than 4.5 million

people, more than 365 million in gross domestic product, and a wide variety of species. i urge support of this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. mrs. napolitano: thank you. i wish to yield seven minutes to mr. heck from washington. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. heck: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlewoman from california. mr. speaker, i do indeed rise in strong support of h.r. 2247, the promoting united government effort to save our sound for the puget -- or the puget s.o.s. act. the puget sound is located in western washington but it is a national treasure. indeed, to modify just slightly what my friend from florida suggested, by water volume it is the largest estuary in the united states of america. puget sound and its tributaries are one of the most ecologically diverse in all of north america

and it is, as has been indicated, the economic engine for our western part of the state. supporting maritime industry, commercial and recreational fish, shellfish growers and tourism and recreation. but it's more than that. it's also absolutely critical to the tribes that reside in washington state who are steward -- who have stewarded it for literally millenia and may i remind you, they have treaty reserve rights to its natural resource. above and beyond that it's central to the identity of anyone from western washington. i ask you this for those who have been to seattle and made the comment, post an august visit it's beautiful. what's the image that comes to your mind? it is of mount ranier, above the shimmering waters of the puget sound. or, and more about this later, it is of that magnificent black and white fish, the orca, breaking the surface, breaching the surface of the water.

here's the deal. puget sound is dying. slowly but surely. it is in serious threat. water and air pollution sediment, contamination, water flow disruption continue to devastate the fish, marine, mammal, bird, and shellfish populations of bue pugh jet sound. indeed the orr character the southern resident orca population is down to 72. arguably not sustainable because we need to save the sound. if these trends continue, we'll lose much of what makes puget sound a national treasure so special. that should concern us all. fortunately, there have been many people across puget sound region that have been treating these deteriorating conditions and having the call to action, tribes and state governments and local groups and private sector people are investing in recovery efforts. in fact, in 2013, i teamed up with my good friend and roommate

and colleague, congressman kilmer, to establish the puget sound recovery caucus, promote puget sound predser vation at the federal level. in 2016, the obama administration created the puget sound federal task force by executive action to coordinate more efficiently recovery efforts among the federal agencies. still, still we must bring more attention to bear on puget sound recovery. that's why we introduced the puget s.o.s. act. the bill will simply codify the federal task force to ensure that coordination among federal agencies continues and we all want that into the future. and it also creates the puget sound recovery national program office at the e.p.a. elevating puget sound recovery efforts and putting them on a par with those, deservedly, that the great lakes and chesapeake bay. for the first time the bill authorizes funding for federal

puget sound recovery action. that is a product of years collaboration between tribal, state, local stake holders including private sector investors. specifically, i want to thank the members of the committee, i especially want to thank my friend, congressman kilmer, and i most especially want to thank my friends across the aisle who joined in co-sponsorship and support of this. i want to thank the northwest indian fisheries commission and the puget sound partnership for their effort. the threats facing the puget sound are numerous. and they're exiss ten rble. but i believe with a strong federal partnership role and smart investments, we can act before it's too late. we can help recover the puget sound and preserve its ecological, economic and cultural significance for generations to come. the puget s.o.s. act is a strong

first step toward recovery. i encourage my colleagues to support the bill and again, i extend my gratitude to all of those who have put your shoulder to the wheel and gotten it thus far in the process. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. mrs. napolitano: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves and the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: mr. speaker, i yield as many minutes as he may consume to the gentleman from washington, mr. newhouse. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. we were all saddened and deeply frustrated to see the iconic puget sound continue to devolve into a dumping ground of human waste and sewage. it's no wonder the species in

our nation's largest estuary are facing increasing odds of extinction. we must do more to address this environmental crisis. an aquatic toxicologist working with the national oceanic and atmospheric administration found that growth rates for salmon species in puget sound are stunned. fiss yo logical functions are disrupted when exposed to high levels of prozac, caffeine, cholesterol medication, ibuprofen, bug spray, cocaine, birth control pills and dozens of other drugs and personal care products in puget sound. i am very glad to see my friends from the west side of the state, mr. heck who has spent a great deal of his ill lust res you career, working on this issue, as well as mr. kilmer, who has also spent an inordinate amount

of time working on this very, very important issue. working to address the debilitating impact the environmental degradation in puget sound is having on shellfish, on the endangered salmon, on steelhead, and as was mentioned on our iconic southern resident killer whales which are truly on the verge of extinction. as my colleague, cathy mcmorris rodgers and i have been saying for years, we must focus on the solutions science tells us will directly aid fish species now. and not waste our precious resources and time on political motivations like the efforts to tear down our dams. this is a deadly distraction from the actual science-based solutions to supportal mop recovery. i want to continue to work with my colleagues to address

problems facing endangered fish species throughout our region in a comprehensive manner. the challenges are many. a robust hatchery program, tchallention are many. must continue to tackle the pinipede issue, the aviation predation issue, but we must also ensure that a robust hatchery program is in place. we must continue to prioritize the world class fish passage in our hydroelectric infrastructure. we must continue to take a serious and thoughtful look at fishing and other human caused impacts. and we must build upon the habitat improvements and greater ecological conservation measures. mr. speaker, we must focus on the science not the flicks. we must -- not the politics. we must focus on the facts not ideology or emotions. while i support the passage of

this legislation, and i do, that we are voting on today, i believe it can and should only move forward as part of a much more competitive -- comprehensive discussion, an effort in the pacific northwest to address the needs of our iconic species, the protection of our environment, the reliability of our clean, renewable energy infrastructure, and certainly the future of our region's economy and livelihood. with that, mr. speaker, i yield ack. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield four minutes to mr. kilmer from washington. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for four minutes. mr. kilmer: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlewoman for yielding. i rise today in support of the puget s.o.s. act, and want to thank my good friend and colleague from the state of washington, representative heck,

for his tireless leadership on this important legislation and his partnership in working to recover this iconic body of water. those of us who are lucky enough to call washington state home know that the puget sound is a truly special body of water. generations of our friends and neighbors have built their lives and made livelihoods on the sound. tribes since time immemorial have called the sound their home.

to have an opportunity, we've got to act now and protect and restore the sound.

>> the gentleman yields. we need tois rodgers look for the best science to recover salmon and save our

orcas. i'm proud of the work we have done. we see salmon returns improving when you look at where we started to where we are today, we're at record levels. now, in washington state, some are suggesting that we need to tear out our dams. in order to save salmon. and to save our orcas. it's a solution that's not -- it's not backed by science. -- if we want i to focus on getting results, we need to figure out how to clean up the puget sound, how to get , we want improved and

to walk around and figure out how we get -- make a difference one of those will be cleaning up the puget sound. we've been oon the forefront of policy to ensure strong salmon runs and clean up our rivers and lakes. this people of the city of spokane, second largest city in washington state. we have committed to over $300 million to clean up spokane river so we'll no longer be dumping raw sewage. an ayor implemented innovative water storage system that president barack obama brought him back to the white house to celebrate and to honor the innovative approach. inland paper has spent millions of dollars on technology to clean up and to ensure, they spent nearly $1 billion to

ensure that the watter that goes river. spokane we're spending millions to clean up lake roosevelt. we're on track to have lake roosevelt meet clean drinking water standards so we can enjoy lake roosevelt, we can fish, we can enjoy the beaches. when i misheart though hear what's going on in puget sound. in 2009, 2009, 10 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into puget sound. in 2017, 250 million gallons raw ewage spilled. 4.5 million in 2019. we've been warned that storm water is killing salmon before

they even spawn. as "the seattle times" said in the 2017 failure that 250 million gallons of sewage into the sound, quote, not a single person from an environmental group or the public turned out to testify or demand action on the crippled west point treatment plant or even take notice of one of the largest local public infrastructure failures in decades. ladies and gentlemen, we are failing. we are failing to meet our obligation. and the high standards that we expect for every water body. yet nearly week we have to defend our dams from the same environmental groups that have refused to look at the facts. so i am stepping forward today as a representative from eastern washington with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to say let's focus on what's going to get the results, what's going to

recover salmon, and what's going to save our orcas. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. mast: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i wish to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from washington, ms. schrier. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from washington, ms. schrier. ms. schrier: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i am so proud to be standing on the floor today speaking in support of the puget s.o.s. act. the passage of this bill in the house is something our state has been collectively working toward for years. thank you to representative heck and to representative kilmer and to the other members of the puget sound recovery caucus for their leadership. the challenges facing our sound are great and are compounded by our state's growth and climate change. chinook populations remain far

below recovery goals despite having beenly the listed as threatened since 1999 under the endangered species act. as the only member in washington state on the house agriculture committee i plan to use my position to highlight the importance of farming practices, ecosystem recovery. the narrative we can have farms or fish is false. we can have both. state and county level agencies are also doing their part to help both fish and farmers. the washington state conservation committee -- commission is doing some amazing work in the agriculture world. our conservation districts work statewide to implement natural resource improvement projects and build landowner engagement and commitment. just one example is the work that the purist county conservation district did when they partnered with local farmers to practice management practices and able to have a substantial impact on the health

of 278 acres for shellfish harvesting. the puget sound needs protecting. other bodies of water like the chesapeake bay and great lakes have formal programs status under the clean water act which helps ensure their consistent federal funding. the puget sound and all the wildlife in it deserve the same status under the clean water act. it's shortsighted and irresponsible to not fight for the sound and its future. we owe it to the species whose futures are in peril because of human activity. we owe it to our children and generations we will never know. and we absolutely must protect puget sound. thank you. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida, mr. mast. mr. mast: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i wish to inquire if he's ready to close. mr. mast: i'm prepared to close.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mast: i'm prepared to close, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mast: mr. speaker, i'd like to urge support of this important legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. with all the support from the washington delegation, i urge my colleagues to support the legislation and i yield back the alance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2247 as amended? those in favor say aye? those opposed, no? in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the house bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is thravenlt

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1620, the chesapeake bay program re-authorization act as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1620, a bill to amend the federal water pollution control act to re-authorize the chesapeake bay program. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano.

since its founding, they have been working toward the health of the single largest estuary in the united states. reaching to six states and the district of columbia. the bay area is cherished water and the number of people

impacted by its health makes it essential. land use changes, urban storm water runoff and atmosphere deposition. we must continue to prioritize programs like the chesapeake bay program and the protection of our nation's waters. the bill supports the continued cooperative efforts of all involved to achieve the rotection of chesapeake bay.

i would like to submit letters of support of the 1620, the theodore roosevelt conservation partnership, background hunters an anglers and chesapeake foundation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. napolitano: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. mr. mitchell: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. cress speak bay watershed is one of the largest estuaries covering 64,000 square miles, home to more than 18 million people, hosts two major ports, major international gateways for trade and produces about 500 million pounds of

seafood each year some of which i enjoyed the other day. i want to thank member's support or the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves, the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i wish to yield five minutes to ms. luria, the lead sponsor, from virginia. mrs. luria: i rise in support of my bill, the chesapeake bay re-authorization act. this will authorize money for the chesapeake bay program over the next phi years. the chesapeake bay is one of our

nation's greatest natural treasures. it's home to spectacular natural beauty and ecological diversity. the pemplet a.'s chesapeake bay program coordinates regional conservation efforts. congress has not re-authorized this program since 2005. thanks to innovative partnerships between local, state and federal agencies and n.g.o.'s, the health of the bay has improved in recent years. this progress is fragile and unless congress acts we risk losing these gains. in 2014, all states within the chesapeake bay watershed and district of columbia signed the chesapeake bay watershed agreement. this partnership committed these states to work together and with the e.p.a. to put in place all the necessary conservation practices by 2025. part of this agreement set a limit on pollution from chemicals like nitrogen and phosphorous.

funding for the bay program goes directly to localities to improve local conservation efforts. by passing the chesapeake bay program re-authorization act, congress will reaffirm that all states in the watershed and e.p.a. must work together to achieve these restoration goals. this includes ensuring that all states have plans in place to comply with the tmdl and all other necessary conservation goals. i want to thank my friend and colleagues on both sides of the aisle, congressman bobby scott, congressman rob wittman and congressman john sarbanes for working with me to achieve this bipartisan victory for the bay. i also thank chairwoman napolitano and ranking member westerman for their support in bringing this bill to the floor. i urge my colleagues to support this critical bill and i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the gentlelady from california.

mrs. napolitano: reserve em the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: i yield to the gentleman from virginia as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i rise in support of h.r. 16 20 the chesapeake bay program re-authorization act that will extend and fund the environmental protection agency's chesapeake bay program until 2024. i am proud to join my colleagues from the chesapeake bay watershed, representatives luria, bobby scott and john sarbanes in introducing this important legislation. mr. wittman: the chesapeake bay is indeed a national treasure and centerpiece of many economies in virginia and neighboring states. a clean and healthy bay is the right thing to do for future generations but will also support local economies and provide numerous other economic and quality of leif benefits. the commercial seafood industry alone employs 34,000 in virginia

and maryland and generates $3.4 billion in sales. a clean an healthy bay also supports a vibrant tourism and outdoor recreational industry. these industries in the watershed support over 820,000 jobs in $13 billion in income. e.p.a.'s chesapeake bay program duss important work in partnership with bay states to control pollution and manage nutrient runoff into the rivers feeding into the bay. throughout the chesapeake bay program we see the overall health of the bay has improved significantly over the last 30 years. we are seeing better water quality, more rockfish, more blue crabs, more oysters, and the list goes on and on. however, without continued collaboration among stake holders and federal support, progress in the basin deed threatened. with today's actions we are one step closer to ensure that -- ensuring that the chesapeake bay remains the economic foundation of our region that will be

enjoyed for generations to come we all enjoy the bay, whether we are in the bay watershed or outside the bay watershed, it is indeed a national treasure. if you look and think about the bay, the work that you see there on a daily basis, the great way of life of folks in these waterside communities, it really is incumbent on all of us to work hard and make sure we continue not just to preserve the bay but make sure we see the bay improve in water quality. it plays an important role in my family, my son is a commercial fisherman, what we call a waterman, he lets me know on a daily basis what's wright and not right with the chesapeake bay and encourages me to do everything we can to continue as good stewards of that fantastic resource to make sure it continues to provide for those living off the water but also provides for the quality of life of those folks that live in the watershed but also continues to be a national treasure. it is indeed even today under the tress, it is indeed one of

the most productive water bodies in the entire world. we continue on this path of improving water quality there, i believe it can be even more productive and provide even more economic value as well as just that intrinsic value that it provides to all of us, not just those in watershed but to us as a nation. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure and continuing the vital work of saving the chesapeake bay. mr. speaker, with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, mrs. napolitano. mrs. napolitano: i wish to inquire if my colleague is ready to close. mr. mitchell: i'm ready to close, yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mitchell: mr. speaker, i urge everyone to think about what mr. wittman and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle explained about the chesapeake bay, it is a tremendous resource to our

nation. recreational opportunities, shipping opportunities in it, never mind the wonderful seafood. i urge support of this bipartisan piece of legislation by all members and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i'm glad this bill is supported by bipartisan members of congress and i intend to support the bill and urge all my colleagues to support it and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass house bill 1620 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition?

mrs. napolitano: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4031, the great lakes restoration initiative act of 2019. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 231, h.r. 4031, a bill to amend the federal water pollution control act to re-authorize the great lakes restoration initiative and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california -- the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. in a pal -- mrs. napolitano: i ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r. 4031. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. napolitano: i yield myself such time as i may consume. h.r. 4031 will was introduced by

the gentleman, mr. joyce. it has total appropriations of approximately $2.5 billion for restoration efforts under e.p.a.'s glri program. worth of this bipartisan action is seen by the diversity of members supporting the bill. the great lakes region encompasses eight different states and is home to more than 30 million people. these waters are a national treasure and contain 84% of the fresh water of all of north mesh. as a representative in a state where the availability of water is always an issue i recognize why the great lake members are so devoted to protecting their water supply. so do we. congress needs to renew its commitment to these types of program which is protect and restore our nation's water. we all know the current challenges facing our states to protect our water resource cluding harmful effects of

alalbloommark of our states are dealing with these challenges as we speak and the great lakes are no exception. one such bloom in 2014 forced a drinking water ban that affecting half a million people. the great lakes restoration initiative has been critical for e.p.a. and the great lakes states to address ongoing challenges to local water quality, including alalbloom. h.r. 4031 is necessary to support the efforts. i urge all members to support this very bipartisan bill to continue efforts for rehab on our precious great lakes. i also want to submit for the record letters of support from background hunters and anglers, national audubon society and the great lakes coalition. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. napolitano: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell.

mr. mitchell: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 4031, h.r. 4031 is a critical bill to re-authorize the great lakes restoration initiative near and dear to my heart and the great lakes caucus. the great lakes as noted is the largest system of fresh surface water in the world. . the glri, as it's known, has been catalyst for a improve the ecosystem, to improve water quality, and support the economy of the entire great lakes region and nation. h.r. 4031 as broad and bipartisan support with nearly 50 co-sponsors and i'm proud to be one of those co-sponsors. i want to thank our members for continued support for the restoration of our great lakes. this year's very important to my district and many other members' districts in our congress here. the great lakes have an incredible impact on our region's way of life that cannot be overstated.

at one point in time when i was younger we had a license plate that called michigan the water wonderland because of the importance of the great lakes on our state. states all on the great lakes rely on them as a fresh water resource, driver of our local and national economy, and world renowned recreation destination. it impacts minnesota all the way to new york. in my home state of michigan we have the most great lakes shoreline of any state with more than 3,000 miles of our state shaped by four of the five great lakes. my district is nearly surrounded by the great lakes system. the projects that the g.l.r.i. make area provided abat that time for

water foul and fish that had been destroyed over the years. these projects resulted in creation of jobs in the region, habitat restoration for wildlife, and a pathway for people to walk on the river or the lake, view it, and enjoy it. this is one of the countless examples that highlight the importance of the g.r.i. and great lakes communities like mine and throughout the region. g.r.i. investments have delivered great outcomes but there is more work to be done to protect our great lakes. including stopping the spread of invasive species like asian arp. and restoring habitat loose. i have advocated for g.r.i. since i arrived here. i recently spoke with the president about the importance that that htifment protects and restores the great lakes. it like many estuaries that we talk about is a national treasure or country relies on for drinking waterers commerce, and more. h.r. 4031 offers a chance to

continue this support. i urge all my colleagues to support this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. i wish to yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. garcia. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman, mr. garcia. mr. garcia: i thank representative choice and chair woman nope for their leadership on this matter. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the great lakes restoration initiative act to protect and improve the health of the great lakes and directly benefit the surrounding region. i hail from chicago and the nation's coast along lake michigan. we now how important a healthy great lakes system is. lake michigan is a tremendous recreational resource and

economic asset for chicago and the state of illinois. long-standing concerns like the potential of asian carp migrating into the lake underscores the importance of advancing this important legislation. the bill will support many important projects to the region. chicago public schools, for example, was able to install green infrastructure and new communities face at four elementary schools. project added 1.2 million gallons of on site storm water storage compass to the reduce storm water runoff throughout chicago. in beach park illinois, a project helps stabilize and protect stream beded habitats. this returned nutrient solution. and increase water quality in both bolt creek and lake michigan. this bill will provide a much needed increase in funding for the great lakes restoration initiative to support the

continued restoration of coastal wetlands, the preservation of water quality, and the control of invasive species. h.r. 4031 will protect the great lakes for future generations, i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. i thank chairwoman napolitano and representative joyce for advancing this important measure. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. mr. mitchell: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. joyce. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. mr. joyce: i rise today in support of my bill, the great lakes restoration initiative act of 2019. first i want to thank congresswoman marcy kaptur and the 48 other members from both sides of the aisle who co-sponsor this important legislation. these members come from each of the eight great lake states and are instrumental in advancing this bill to the house floor.

house want to thank my colleagues on the transportation and infrastructure committee who unanimously supported the glri act of 2019 during its markup back in september. i cherish my memories growing up on the shores of lake erie, fishing and swimming with family and friends. everyone in this chamber knows i'm not shy about my commitment to protect and restore the great lakes for both current and future generations of americans. the great lakes are a key can economic driver for our nation. more than 1.5 million jobs are directly connected to the great lakes, generating $62 billion in wages annually. that's not to mention the fact the great lakes basin is home to more than 30 million people and that the lakes hold roughly 21% of the entire world's fresh water supply. that's why i was proud to introduce this bill to authorize this critically important great lakes restoration initiative for an additional five years and increase the program's annual authorize the funding level ensuring communities across the great lakes region, including those in my own district of

northeast ohio, can continue to address their on-the-ground needs. to the great lakes restoration initiative, also known as glri, e.p.a. coordinates its efforts with other federal partners like the u.s. fish and wildlife service and u.s. army corps of engineers, as well as state agencies, local communities, and nonprofit organizations. glri protects projects -- projects have led to significant environmental benefits in the great lakes region since the program was created, helping restore more than 50,000 acres of coastal wetlands and reduce nutrient runoff which leads to harmfulal ga blooms like the one that shut toledo's watercies member in 2014 impacting hundreds of thousands of ohioans. it provides for benefits like protecting the $7 billion great lakes fishery from invasive species like the asian carp. recent studies show every dollar spent on these projects through

2016 produces more than $3 in additional economic activity in the region. this means jobs and economic development and waterfront communities like mentor. and ohio. without the gri critical activities in strong economic growth would never happen. the bill is a great example of the progress we make when we work together to address the issues facing our communities. but while we have made progress in our efforts to address near shore health, invasive species, toxic substance, and wildlife habitat, much more work remains to be done to protect the great lakes. that's why i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 4031 and working across party lines to protect the invaluable natural resource and economic powerhouse that is the great lakes system. thank you. i yield back the balance of my ime. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady from california is recognized. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to mr. higgins of new york. mr. higgins: i thank you the chairwoman. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from, mr. higin. mr. higgins: i rise to strongly support this bill which would increase funding to the great lakes restoration initiative to $475 million by the year 2026. -n funding is essential to the health of the great lakes. we made incredible progress to restore plant and animal habitat, control invasive species, combat harmfulal ga blooms, improve water quality, and clean up the environment of this region. the the revital scagse of my district once declared ecologically dead is now a destination for nature and recreation and one of the great success stories of this program. it is-t has yielded impressive economic benefits for every $1 in funding generates $3.35 in economic activity.

in buffalo. the number is greater than $4. it threatens the progress we have made and still much work is left to be done. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. mr. mitchell: i'm pleased to yield to another of my colleagues, mr. gibbs from ohio, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. gibbs: no question the great lakes are an important environmental and economic resource of the united states. $200 billion in economic activity. so many communities rely on the great lakes for drinking water, jobs, recreation, and more. the great lakes may have had a troubled environmental history but recent restoration and protect efforts have been successful. the glri is a major factor in these efforts. funding projects that were ultimate leave the great lakes in a better condition for future generations to enjoy. several years ago when i was chairman of the subcommittee

with jurisdiction, we had some concerns and we -- oversight responsibility and taxpayer dollars i requested the g.a.o. do a study of this program. and it came back an excellent return. i think we are getting some of these returns. but also what's important that study made -- gave us helpful ideas to improve the program and we are seeing that today and this program's working well. i feel good we did that study and we know what's going on and we know the taxpayer dollars are protected and we did oversight role. ohio is home to many important projects funded by the great lakes restoration initiative. state missions to reduce foss trust, asian carp prevention, various habitat restoration projects. the glri remains an essential element in repairing and preserving the great lakes. i want to thank my colleague from ohio, mr. joyce, sponsor of this bill. i urge my colleagues to support passage of h.r. 40316789 i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from ohio yields. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the chair wreck -- recognizes the gentlelady from california, mrs. napolitano. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to the the gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. moore. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. ms. moore: thank you so much, mr. speaker. i am so very, very pleased to rise in support of this ipartisan legislation to re-authorize and streanten the great lakes restoration initiative, the glri. 20% of the world's fresh water resides in the great lakes. and it is a national treasure and a regional economic engine. i remember when i was first elected in 2004 on election night, i was so excited because i said now, now i get to represent lake michigan. it is one of my favorite constituents. in its mere one decade of

existence, the glri has not only generated environmental benefits, but it is helping to generate economic development as water way that is were once polluted and unusable, off limits to the public have become attractive to not only recreational users, but to businesses who are able to open their doors to the public. glri investments have been used in over 4,000 projects across almost 300,000 square miles of great lakes -- of the great lakes basin. it is truly a win-win. mr. speaker, this bill takes the next step to support the ongoing efforts and partnerships that are making this program so successful in great lakes communities. while i don't have much time, i just want to highlight a couple of things, efforts that my constituents who are hard at

work are doing to make use of the funds that protect lake michigan. here's one story of a small business owner. beth handle is the owner and operator of milwaukee kayak company located right on the milwaukee river. in downtown milwaukee. she came to my office to share how cleaning thup river has been fitted her business -- cleaning up this river has benefited her business. it changed the river from -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the chair recognizes -- mrs. napolitano: i yield a minute to ms. moore. ms. moore: cleaning up the river changed a river from place people didn't want to go and now it's where families go to paddle board, swim, explore the river, and our city. of course milwaukee is a great place on a great lake. as water is not directly funded by the glri has been working

with grantees and others to make sure the communities that have been historically disengaged are in those conversations. our metropolitan, sewage district is using it to clean up the milwaukee estuary where there is a gathering of three rivers. this estuary is one of 30 areas of pollution concerns in the great lakes. . i urge passage of this bill. i'm so delighted we are debating this in a bipartisan manner. speaker., mr. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the chair recognizes the california.rom mrs. napolitano: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the reserves.n the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. yield to the i gentlewoman from indiana, mrs.

walorski. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. walorski: i rise in support of this bill. a vital program that coordinates among 15 agencies to significant ost challenges facing the great lakes. the great lakes are among our ost precious natural resources and a key economic driver in my home state of indiana. recreational the boating industry alone provides indiana's economy each year. yet, the environmental and economic health of our region from a host of issues facing the great lakes. pollution, severe erosion, loss of native habitat, species and destructive algae blooms. investment inical preserving and protecting the great lakes as well as creating jobs and growing our economy. proud to be an original co-sponsor of h.r. 031, which would re-authorize the program funding through fiscal year 2026.

protecting and improving the means making sure current and future generations can experience the natural boating, hiking that have always been important to part of the midwest. representatives joyce and kaptur for their hard work on this bipartisan legislation. to thank my fellow hoosier, congressman visclosky, service and es of making sure that the indiana indiana's first national park. ask colleagues vote for this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. reserves.ll: the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california. mrs. napolitano: i'd like to we have.ow much time the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman has 12 minutes remaining. to napolitano: i'd like yield three minutes to ms. ohio. from the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady from ohio is recognized. to thank : i'd like the chairwoman of the water resources committee for yielding for her unyielding support for water issues across this very y, including in our critical great lakes region. you have been a true and unyielding champion on these issues and i thank you. of bills ckage protects not only our great lakes but ecosystems across our country. 4031, the great lakes restoration initiative of 2019 support from the great lakes region. bill co-sponsors of the represent every ideological our caucus, and today's bill, which is on testament for a that bipartisan, bicameral, critical support. vain, i must also commend my colleague from ohio, congressman david joyce, for his effort to work

collaborative to collect signatures for h.r. 4031 so we move it from 2019 to 2020. recognizes akes act the enormous unmet need for the region. interagency's collaborative effort has brought to bear resources, expertise and across the from local, state, and federal portions of the region and help on a major ources spot. the largest river that flows nto the entire great lakes and lso facing gigantic harmful algal -- algal blooms. erie which o lake then feeds the most productive endangering ake, annually native species and creating massive harmful algal blooms with the critical endang toxic.ent which is toledo's drinking

water system which had to be shut down three years ago. it threatens the safety of our eaches and longevity of our ecosystem. this great lakes restoration initiative will help toledo's de root causes of the blooms. since 2010, over 4,000 projects have been completed across the basin. largest watershed in the entire great lakes and a recent study ersity of michigan revealed each dollar spent on will result in $3.35 million in additional economic activity. goals of the initiative will ensure that fish asian e to eat and the carp is kept out and control of numerous environmental problems across our lakes. source of fresh continent.r today's legislation offers a rampup back to the level for the the ration initiative when program was first funded in con fiscal year 2010. o it's pretty new as far as federal programs good. rampup is supported

across the delegation. thank i want to chairwoman grace napolitano for sides of cross both the aisle and with members of this house from every region of the country. thank you so very much, and i back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from ohio yields. the gentlelady from california. i reserve the : balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. r. mitchell: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield a minute and 30 seconds to my colleague and co-chair of he great lakes task force, mr. huizenga. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman. mr. huizenga: thank you. i rise in support of continued preservation and restoration of great lakes through the great lakes restoration initiative, a very important the great lakes system. for michiganders, the great our are linked to identity, our way of life, our history, and our future. is home toakes basin more than 30 million people and

the nation's % of fresh surface water supply. many know that but they don't economic erstand the impact. of a $6vides a backbone trillion regional economy. has a he initiative strong track record of success, specifically in west michigan up toxic work to clean hot spots in areas like muss is -- muskegon generated recreational new spending. this holds true across the west region. and the entire as every dollar invested in the generates more than $3 in additional long-term economic activity. is critical to our efforts to protect drinking water, prevent the spread of species, and to accelerate the cleanup of areas of concern. asian carp eat of inundating our waters, high

water levels and erosion hreatening our shorelines and the ongoing threat of pfas water, we mustour be committed to bipartisan solutions to protect this resource. recently, my republican colleagues and i had an opportunity to spend some time and he president recommitted his support for the and towards the great lakes s well as making sure that other efforts to keep invasive species out is happening. glri is a bipartisan example of an effective and efficient use of taxpayer that protects -- yield 15 ll: i seconds. mr. huizenga: taxpayer dollars protects, preserves and strengthens the great lakes oday and for future generations. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. huizenga, yields. michigan, mr. from mitchell. mr. mitchell: reserves. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california. speaker, i ano: mr. yield three minutes to mrs.

michigan.om the speaker pro tempore: mrs. dingell is recognized. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. chairwoman from california for yielding and all work on this bill. i rise in strong support of h.r. 4031, the great lakes initiative, or the glri, as we work on this all ca 2019, which will re-authorize he glri for five years and increase authorized funding for program to $2 -- $475 million annually by fiscal year 2026. through the glri program, we and been able to clean up delist environmental areas of concern. to restore ble coastal wetlands, as many of our talked about, blooms, harmful algal combat invasive species and help

protect, restore, and maintain ecosystems and economy.n our regional and as people have seen on the loor today, this issue has shared strong bipartisan support at all times. help k my colleagues for to educate the president on the importance of the glri. a great lakes are not only treasured natural resource, but a way of life that supports jobs throughout the region. they are 21% of the nation's -- of the world's fresh water world supply. my building on what colleague from wisconsin, ms. moore, was talking about, my ms. tlaib, and i were able to kayak on the rouge 50th anniversary of its having caught on fire. to see -- we were surrounded by industry, but we also saw a bald eagle and

herring and she got the most beautiful picture of to see -- turtle. as co-chair of the great lakes task force, i am proud to be an and thank myponsor colleagues, representative david kaptur, for rcy their great leadership on this issue. i urge all of my colleagues to important bill to ensure our great lakes are all future r generations and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the yields.dy the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: thank you, sir. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the chair recognizes the michigan, mr. mitchell. mr. mitchell: mr. speaker, could i inquire the balance of please?both sides, the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan has 9 1/2 minutes. the gentlelady from california 1/2 minutes. mr. mitchell: thank you, mr. speaker. would like to yield at this point in time a minute and 30 to another colleague from michigan, mr. walberg. he speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes mr. walberg

from michigan. i rise in strong support of the great lakes rest 20 -- initiative of restoration initiative of 2019. not because my district has lake in its borders, but because of the impact of such a great that has had bipartisan support. and now thankfully, even as just this last week, the talk with the president and my colleagues and know of his support as well. the great lakes are something that we all treasure in michigan, and they are central state's economy and way of life. as stewards of the natural incumbent on us to take care of them so that future generations can enjoy beauty, their bounty, and their economic benefits. why the bipartisan support for glri is so overwhelming. decade, the glri has been the driving force ehind cleaning up and protecting the great lakes.

funds from this successful towards restoring wetlands, combating harmful invasive ms, stopping species, and much, much more. resources, we can accelerate and expand glri's for the en more citizens of not only our states great country. i'm proud to join my colleagues in this effort, preserve the and continue it long into the future as beneficial for all who the greatness of what it is. let's pass this critical legislation, and i yield back. the peaker pro tempore: gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg, yields. r. mitchell: i reserve, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell, reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, mrs. napolitano, is recognized. mrs. napolitano: thank you, mr. speaker. minutes to ms. schakowsky from illinois. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from illinois. ms. schakowsky: i thank the

gentlewoman for yielding to me. today in r, i rise strong support of the great initiative ation act's re-authorization. before, i ntioned think the great lakes represent of the world's surface fresh water. 'm glad to see so many of my colleagues from the great lakes region here but really all of us world has a of the stake in this. the great lakes provide drinking 45 million americans, and the lakes support one of the largest regional economies through agriculture fishing and and recreation. plants and s of animals, animal species, and americans, the great for life and are our national treasure.

wanted to say, this is really personal for me. the eastern border of my running from chicago to the northern suburbs, is lake michigan. i live about -- just a few blocks from the lake myself and spent every summer of my in dhood on the beach indiana enjoying the lake, but by re threatened right now climate change and pollution. ast year, the midwest saw record flooding, the worst -- worsening storms, harmful and toxic algae blooms that threaten the drinking water infrastructure. actually, we saw thousands of theicans who couldn't drink water because of that algae bloom. beach are closing or disappearing entirely because of the levels of the lake are at

record highs right now. just last month these record water levels meant that we are -- i'm getting calls from condominium owners who are worried about their buildings getting -- not demolished but certainly damaged because of the high lake waters. new estimates from the army corps of engineers state that the lake levels could get even higher next year. and we are watching -- we are watching for that with great distress. the great lakes restoration act -- initiative is absolutely essential to restoring the health and unpolluting the lake and protecting the grandeur of our lakes. this is a bipartisan piece of legislation. people on both sides of the sle are down here speaking

eloquently about the meaning of the great lakes to them. and it's really refreshing, i think, for all of us to be able to join hands together asking for the re-authorization of the great lakes initiative act. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from illinois yields. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. mr. mitchell: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield a minute and 30 seconds to the gentleman from ohio, mr. gonzalez. the speaker pro tempore: the chair reco recognizes the gentl from ohio. mr. gonzalez: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 4031, the great lakes restoration initiative act of 2019. first i want to thank my good friends from ohio, mr. joyce and miss capture, for their leadership on this legislation. the great lakes are an essential natural resource, not only for my district and state, but for the entire country. one of the world's largest bodies of fresh water, the great

lakes provide fresh drinking water for over 30 million people. in addition, the great lakes serves an an -- as an economic engine. supporting over 300,000 jobs. the great lakes are more than a source of revenue. ask any of my constituents what the great lakes mean to them and they will tell you they are an essential part of what makes northeast ohio such a great place to live, work, and raise a family. over the past decade both democrats and republicans have understood the importance of protecting the great lakes. since 2010, the glri has catalyzed critical restoration action that both restores and protects the great lakes. in fact, for every dollar spent under glri an estimated $3.35 in economic activity is produced. i strongly urge my colleagues to support h.r. 4031 and ensure that preservation of our waterways and ecosystems for future generations. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio yields.

the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: reserves. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california. le mrs. napolitano: reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: i'd like to yield at this point a minute and 30 seconds to my colleague, the gentleman from wisconsin. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. >> thank you. it's been an honor to be able to speak on this initiative. so good given what's going on in the other house today where we have so much partisanship, this is the sort of bipartisan work we should be doing. honored to be a co-sponsor of the great lakes restoration initiative. my district goes along lake michigan. i know it means so much for the communities of port washington, sheboygan, just like to clean up something here. i know right now there is -- i know a few years ago in 2013 there was a great deal of concern the water mark in lake michigan was the all time low. mr. grothman: people talked about talked about climate change.

it's good to report in 2020 in january what the 30-year high on lake michigan. maybe that's the reason for a crisis as well, but it's interesting to see how things kind of ebb and flow on lake michigan. as previously been said about a fifth of the fresh water in the lakes around the world is in lake michigan by itself. lake michigan itself is the fifth biggest lake in the world. we have had problems with invasive species, one of the major reasons why i'm on this bill. we want to keep the lakes clean not only for consuming water, but the fisheries, the fishing going on there is important. and the recreation on lake michigan is important. a lot of this money goes into agriculture in places like wisconsin. we do have to keep the lakes clean. as we keep our farms clean it results in less algae blooms, a healthier lake system. in any event i'm honored to be a co-sponsor on this. i'm pleased that the speaker has

decided to put such a great bipartisan bill on the floor today. i yield the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin yields. the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: i reserve. and prepared to close if my colleague is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: let me close with this please, mr. speaker. this bill passed the committee with strong bipartisan support. as my colleagues have noted, including mrs. walorski, recreational use of the great lakes is an important component of the great lakes restoration initiative. as i close i'd like to quote the importal words of country superstar, craig morgan. a little unusual but i think it's appropriate today. he said, in a song, i am meeting my buddies out on the lake, we are heading out to a special place we love. that just folks, a few folks know. there is no signing up. there is no monthly dues. take your johnson, your mercury, and fire it up.

meet us at the party comb. come on, enter the water's fine. idle over and toss us a line. and support restoration re-authorization of the great lakes restoration initiative. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i am glad to hear that this has such great bipartisan support. itle truly is an amazing bill. and i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4031. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, and the bill is passed -- the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted.

a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, it further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass this bill, h.r. 2475, a bipartisan bill, to amend the federal water pollution control act to re-authorize the lake pontchartrain base project program and for other purposes s amended. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlelady calling up h.r. 4275? mrs. napolitano: 4275. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. it the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4275, a bill to amend the federal water pollution control act to re-authorize the lake pontchartrain basin restoration

program, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and include remarks extraneous material on h.r. 4275, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i -- the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i want to submit for the record letters of support for 4275 to re-authorize lake pontchartrain basin restoration program. from lake pontchartrain basin foundation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: mr. speaker, 4275 will re-authorize e.p.a.'s lake pontchartrain basin restoration program for the next five years.

introduced by the gentleman from louisiana, mr. graves, and mr. richmond, it re-authorizes the program for the next five years with continuous funding of 20 million annually over five years. it also caps e.p.a.'s administrative expenses at 5%. at our june subcommittee hearing, we received testimony on current threats to lake pontchartrain region and its water shed. covering 10,000 square mile area, the basin faces impact from logging, urban and agricultural runoff, sewage overflows, and pollution. this is an example of human development having an extreme impact on the entire water shed capable of causing entire dead zones as we are now seeing. with wetlands prevented from acting as natural filters for these pollutants, the entire lake is at risk. this program represents a collaborative effort for federal, state, local entities

to restore the ecological health of the basin. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 4275. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. mr. mitchell: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 4275. h.r. 4275 represents good governance to re-authorize the lake pan cha train restoration basin program. the lake pontchartrain basin water shed is home to approximately 22st million people and covers 5,000 square miles. in june of last year when the subcommittee water and resources environment held a hearing on many of these regional water shed programs, we invited mrs. kristi trail from the lake pontchartrain basin foundation to testify on the need and importance of re-authorizing this program of the during that hearing we heard that lake pontchartrain and sur rounding water shed play a great work of the ecosystem of the gulf coast,

contributing over $35 million to the local economy. a result of the found foundation's work to program, the lake is making tremendous comeback. including growing their community outreach programs. i'd like to thank mr. graves, the sponsor of this bill, for putting this forward for his support. i'd also like to recognize the fact that we limit the e.p.a.'s administration to 5%. so the money goes to restore lake pontchartrain. for these reasons and others, i urge support of this program and this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: i reserve the balance of my time. i want to know if my colleague is ready to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. mitchell. mr. mitchell: thank you, mr. speaker. first i would like to yield for as much time as i he may consume -- as he may consume, to the sponsor of the bill, mr. garrett

graves from louisiana. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentleman. i promised to consume time and conserve the lake. mr. speaker, lake pontchartrain is perhaps not a very well-known lake. it's actually the second largest saltwater lake in the united states. but it wasn't always this way. lake pontchartrain is a result of coastal land loss in louisiana has this-h this intrusion of saltwater that has fultly changed the ecosystem of that lake and the communities. this is a lake that serves as the water shed for 16 perishes in louisiana, four counties in mississippi, and most importantly this lake takes the runt of the surge from two canadian provinces and 31 states. you see, mr. speaker, what happens is each time we have these high water years on the mississippi river system, which

drains 31 states and two canadian provinces, there is an emergency relief valve that sends water through the spillway into lake pontchartrain. this isn't water that's coming from louisiana. in fact, less than 1% of the water's even coming from the state of mississippi. it's water coming from all of these states from montana to new york to canada and all of these states in this large water shed funnel in between. so on average the spillway has been operating once every decade, once every 10 years. yet in recent years we have had to open it four times. including last year. last year the first time ever that it was opened in january and the first time ever it was actually operated for two years -- excuse me twice in one year. operated twice in one year. so this is the state of louisiana. this is this lake. this is this basin, this water shed that has taken it on the

chin for the rest of the country. anti-reason this is important, mr. speaker, is because this lake is an incredibly productive ecosystem. recreational, commercial fishing. you see lots of folks out there in sailboats and other boats out there enjoying the lake. what's been happening as a result of this -- nation's water, what's been happening as a result of all the drainage coming into here is that the health of the lake has been compromised and challenged, which therefore affects our fisheries both recreation and commercial, the millions of pounds of crabs harvested out of the lake, and this lake bounds new orleans and jefferson parish, it bounds the north shore and river perishes such as st. john and st. charles on the west side. this is an important part of louisiana, the coastal land loss we have experienced and change in this ecosystem, we must make investments to maintain this. as we help to manage this rapid and unfortunate transition from a fresh water lake into a brakish and saltwater lake we

now have. . thank e to yield to the the chairwoman napolitano and westerman, the ranking member of the subcommittee, as well as maggie the work aff for all they put into this. of course, chairman defazio and anking member sam graves for their work in ensuring we get this bill right, that we have the right caps on here to ensure to actually y goes investing in the lake as congressman mitchell mentioned opposed to going toward bureaucracy. i urge adoption of this that isan legislation we've introduced with my friend, congressman cedric richmond of and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana yields.s and mr. mitchell: i reserve the balance of my time and prepared my colleague is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman resefshts. the chair recognizes the

gentlelady from california. rs. napolitano: i am prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. mitchell: i want to thank y colleague, mr. graves of louisiana, all of the sponsors of this bill and supporters of this bill. earlier, it has bipartisan support from the committee. i urge adoption. yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mrs. napolitano: yes. want to thank both sides' staff. they have done a marvelous job doing this. chairman of e the -- the chair and ranking of both committees for water.ortant bills on water is the economy. until we realize that we have to help the p, communities work with the state and other entities, we will get done. so mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support the i yield n bill, and back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the

amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. chair, 2/3ion of the having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? mrs. maloney: i move that the house suspend the rules and 5214.to the bill h.r. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. 5214, a bill to amend title 5 united states code o prevent fraud by representative payees. the speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to the rule, the mrs. lady from new york, maloney, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, minutes. control 20 the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. ask unanimous i consent that all members may have five legislative days to evise and extend their remarks and include material on the measure before us. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. maloney: i yield myself consume.e as i may the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. and include mrs. maloney: the representative payee fraud act is a commonsense bipartisan bill which would recipients from federal ensions from unscrupulous representatives who use the money for their own benefit instead of retirees. currently, representative payees those whoe money from are a minor, mentally ncompetent or has another disability. embezzlement or conversion of social security and veterans' payeets by representative

is a federal felony. however, there is no federal in current law for representative payees who mbezzle or convert federal retirement benefits to their own use. he representative payee fraud protection act would close this loophole and apply the same enalties to those representative payees who misuse benefits.nsion we must ensure that those who have spent their careers in receive the e benefits they have earned. friend and ank my colleague, representative tlaib, for her hard work, along with meadows.ative it's a bipartisan effort on this important issue. support colleagues to this commonsense measure, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the reserves. the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows. you, mr. ws: thank speaker. i yield myself such time as i consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you. i rise in support of h.r. 5214, he representative payee fraud prevention act. federal employees often dedicate decades of their lives to public service, and when they retire, those federal employees receive heir hard-earned retirement benefits. currently, the federal government issues payments to retirees two million and more than half a million aknew tiffs each year annuative is and if they incapacitated some way, a representative payee may be appointed. is a personve payee who receives and manages the benefits on the behalf of who -- that n and is not fully capable of managing their own benefits. like mental ings illness, disability, long-term llness are just a few examples

of situations where a payee may counsel.o provide that bviously, as we look at this, representatives payee can assist with the care, well-being of the beneficiary. surprisingly, though, it's not a representative payee to commit a financial fraud incapacitated federal retiree. however, under the social security act, it's a crime to do so. so i have always assumed this type of financial abuse of federal employees was also a crime. right now under federal law it's not. as the chairwoman from new york this is a commonsense piece of legislation. colleague, thank my ms. tlaib, for her leadership on this. this bill will make it a crime embezzle federal retirement enefits as a representative

payee. if convicted, the representative could be subject to criminal five years in prison. obviously, this is a protection our federal workforce, and i would urge the support of this particular piece of legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york, mrs. maloney. mrs. maloney: i yield five time as she much ay consume to representative tlaib. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from michigan. thank you. i'd like to begin by thanking congressman meadows for this bill with me on as well as our chairwoman incredibly her strong and talented staff for for their rship and continued support of the work that we have to do on behalf of our residents at home. to thank our forever

chairman cummings, who is looking down on us, for his mentorship and help on this bill help some of our most vulnerable retirees. toall know that no one needs be scammed out of their money, but that's especially true for retirees. this bill is a bipartisan effort o protect those retirees or recipients of federal -- who are recipients of federal benefits. those that are incompetent or have another qualifying isability can have their monthly benefits paid through a representative. the ently we refer to as representative payee. in recent years, what we've seen in our country is there has been sharp increase in the number of representative payees who have taken advantage of their and committed fraud, hurting many of our residents. them need to hold accountable. and this bill does that. the bill would expand protection workers all illion across the united states. in my home state of michigan,

nearly 40,000 federal retirees who are currently unprotected from this crime, quality of life. they are supposed to be living in peace during their retirement years. becoming targets instead. we need to push back together in way.artisan from those hand feeling neglect in the assisted livings facilities to prices.able drug i want to ensure that our older americans have one less worry of financial predators who will misuse their hard-earned money. for too long this lack of protection has left some civil most vulnerable servants without legal recourse when they are taken advantage of retirement funds are misused. we must ensure that the most communities are protected on every front. that's what this legislation do.l it will prevent those who have committed representative payee raud from serving as

representative payees in the future and hold them accountable to their victims. ensure that our public servants, our civil servants who have dedicated serving our o country are protected against this fraudment again, i want to hank our beloved chairman cummings for coming to myself and to our -- my colleague, meadows.an when he did we couldn't say no to him. so we worked together in trying this issue for so many folks, again, two million f them, federal employees across the country that need this protection. i really do urge my colleagues to support this bill. thank you so much. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from michigan, ms. tlaib, yields. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, if the gentleman from north carolina has no further to kers, i am prepared close. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the chair recognizes the carolina.from north mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i certainly would rise in

legislation.is i thank the gentlewoman for her words, ms. tlaib, as she's been leading on this. and you're right. chairman cummings had a way, an infectious way of bringing together. i rise in support of this legislation as a tribute to his to her ip and leadership. and i yield -- i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the yields.n the gentlelady from new york. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i 5214.assage of h.r. i thank elijah cummings for his hard work on this bill, too, and colleagues, mr. meadows and ms. tlaib, and yield back the time.e of my the speaker pro tempore: the yields.dy the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows. the question is will the house the nd the rules and pass bill h.r. 5214. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the

affirmative, the rules are and the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? house loney: i move the suspend the rules and agree to the bill h.r. 3830, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of bill. the clerk: h.r. 3830, a bill to provide taxpayers with an understanding of government programs through the disclosure of cost, performance, areas of duplication among them, leverage existing data to functional federal program inventory, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: rule, the the gentlelady from new york, ms. ma maloney, and mrs. the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york. mrs. maloney: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to evise and extend their remarks extraneous materials

on the measures before us. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. york.entlelady from new mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i support this bill and would like to thank congressman cooper for their hard work on this. the taxpayers rite to know right-to-know act is a commonsense solution that would help identify areas of inefficiencies in the federal government. the bill would create an inventory of federal programs a t would be published on government website and updated regularly. the information in the inventory would also be archived. previous attempts at getting on rmation from agencies federal programs have yielded results.e and varied since agencies often have different ways of defining federal programs. . this provides insight into the activities of programs government-wide. the taxpayers' right to noel act

would require to authorize spending and purpose of a federal program's activity. information would be required on any awards of financial assistance. access to enhanced information would result in greater transparency into duplicative or inefficient programs. this bill would provide a means to test a way in which this comprehensive inventory of federal programs would be achieved across the federal government. it would require the office of management budget to report on how existing agency data would be used to create the program inventory or explain how the data will be presented. and the results of a pilot program. i support this good-government measure. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized.

mr. meadows: i rise in support of the taxpayer right-to-know act. the federal government is a complex organization and as members of congress, we are responsible to ensure that federal government is efficient. however we lack the tools to understand how the taxpayer dollars are spent, oftentimes we lack a detailed list of the programs that are there. this bipartisan bill will increase transparency and make it easier to see how the federal government uses its tax dollars. and may i edit that last statement just a bit. it's not the government's tax dollars but the hardworking american taxpayers' dollars. so this is a critically important fiscal tool. the federal government spent $4.4 trillion. taxpayers should know where their hard-earned money is going and we need to know what the government is doing. a comprehensive inventory of the

federal programs will help us do that. in 2010, congress required the executive branch to develop a comprehensive federal program inventory. the program inventory envisioned and given the public insight into the government's organizational structure and provide a comparable list of all federal programs. comparability is key. we need to see how these programs match up. to give you one example. there was 678 duplicative programs in the federal government that just dealt with sustainable energy. and you can argue the merits of priority or the lack thereof, but certainly over 600 programs to deal with one particular issue across the government is something that cannot be

efficient. however, the government accountability office found that program inventory billed to the previous administration in 2013 failed to meet the intent of the law or the needs of congress. implementing guidance allowed far too much flexibility for agencies to define programs. each agency used its own definition which prevented agencies from programs to be compared to one another. and so the taxpayers' right-to-know act requires the law to update existing definition of programs across all federal agencies. this is a good bill that goes with the intent of congress and as laid out. and i would reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, if the gentleman from north carolina has no further speakers, i'm prepared to close. mr. meadows: i'm sure -- excuse me. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meadows: i'm sure we have one other speaker that is

running in the halls right now but let him speak on a different bill. let me mention mr. walberg's leadership on this and shoutout on trying to make sure that congressional intent was addressed and i thank him for his leadership. and i urge support of this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. i maloney: mr. speaker, urge i urge passage of h.r. 3830 as amended -- yes, i will. mr. meadows: if you would let me reclaim my time and give mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mrs. maloney: i yield my time to mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. mr. meadows: i will yield to the gentleman who made it in by the air on his cheney-chin-chin.

mr. walberg: i did shave this morning. american taxpayers deserve to know where, when, and why government is spending their hard-earned dollars. i partnered with representative oper to introduce 380, the taxpayers' right-to-know act. this requires federal agencies to supply an online accounting of their program activities in an easily searchable inventory so americans can keep tabs on how and where their tax dollars are being spent. it will account for how funds are allocated, total amount appropriated, obligated and outlayed for services and the intended population served by each program and will performance reviews for each

program including any and all inspector general or government accountability officer reports. all of the information provided for the inventory will be updated regularly to provide for a more realtime accounting of federal program dollars. i ask for support from my colleagues for this legislation. i think its time has come. and i yield back. mr. meadows: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i urge passage of h.r. 3830 as amended and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3830 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the

gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? mrs. maloney: i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to the bill h.r. 2382. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of he bill. the clerk: h.r. 2382, a bill to amend title 5 united states code to repeal the requirements that the united states postal service pre-pay future retirement benefits and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from new york and the gentleman from north carolina each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. maloney: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure before us. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. so ordered. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may

consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. maloney: the bill before us, u.s. postal service act would make a small but very important change to help address the dire financial condition of the postal service. common law requires the postal service to pre-fund the health care costs of its future retirees decades into the future. we are aware of no other entity, public or private, that faces this type of onerous financial burden. this mandate has cost the postal service billions of dollars since it was first imposed 14 years ago. the postal service has not made a payment into this fund since 2012. this bill won't solve all the postal service's financial problems. eliminating the mandate will

take paper liabilities off the books of the postal service, but will do nothing to improve its cash position. without major structural reforms, the postal service will run out of cash in about four years. at that point, it will not be able to pay its own workers and mail delivery would simply cease. it has taken significant steps to control its costs including shrinking its work force by close to 300,000 employees over the past 20 years. yet, it has incurred net annual losses for 13 straight years. the postal service currently funds universal mail service to nearly 159 million delivery points solely through the sale of postage. it is required to expand its network to deliver mail to approximately 1 million new addresses every year, even as the volume of mail continues to

decline by a projected 45 billion mail pieces over the next decade. while i support this bill, more must be done to stabilize the finances of this important american institution on which so relies. relies.lation the oversight committee and congressman connolly in particular is working on comprehensive legislation to do just that. and we will continue to work on comprehensive legislation after this bill passes. finally, i want to thank my good friend, mr. did he fast yeoh, for his tireless and passionate advocacy of this bill and i thank mr. reed and mr. fitzpatrick on the other side of the aisle and ms. tores small for their hard work as well. i urge my colleagues to support this commonsense measure and i

resevere. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: i rise in opposition to the bill. no one has invested more time than perhaps mr. connolly or myself on postal reform. but i think it was winston churchill that said that no matter how beautiful the strategy, we must occasionally look at the results. and the results of this bill will do nothing to stop the post office from hemorrhaging money. as we look at this pre-funding -- and i would agree with the gentlewoman. part of our solution, part of the bipartisan solution in the previous congress was to look at this pre-funding issue and to try to address it. but to do it as a stand-alone bill, mr. speaker, is certainly not what the doctor ordered, because even with this, even this, the postal service

continues to lose money each and every day. and i would say if this was the bomb that solved their problem, it would have already been solved because they haven't been making the payments. what the american people to understand, they are wanting relief from a payment that they are not making and going to make zero difference in terms of the viability of the postal service. we can all agree, we can all agree there needs to be major reforms, but this particular bill and the way that it is being put forth would actually hurt the potential progress we have in addressing real reforms. i sadly rise in opposition to this bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i recognize the author of the legislation, mr. defazio from oregon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. defazio: i thank the gentlelady. you can't make this stuff up. and christmas eve bill with no legislative consideration and otherwise noncontroversial bill, a provision was stuck in to say that the postal service should pre-fund 75 years of health benefits for retirees. now think about that. that means people who have not yet been born, who have not yet gone to work for the postal service for a career and then might retire, we are paying for their health care now. name one other entity in the united states of america, corporate or government, that does anything like this. it's not. and it's a biggy bank. the money isn't being put in a trust fund to pay for their health insurance but going into the treasury. who knows where it goes. maybe it makes the debt look smaller.

but it is accounting for the majority of the losses of the postal service. so, yes, this will relieve pressure on the postal service and on rates. and there are a lot of americans who would not like to see the postal rates keep going. there are 300 bipartisan co-sponsors and not too many things around here these days like that because many people realize this doesn't make much sense and the postal service is a critical service. it's not a government-run business for it to make a profit. it is the u.s. postal service. if you represent a rural area, you can't make money. they get the postal service to take it out there. everybody in rural america is out of luck. and there is a lot of other people who are dependent upon this. rural newspapers, small businesses. a few years ago, many years ago, i posted something on a website,

tell me if you need the postal service. and people from small towns all around my large district said, i sell on ebay. and live in powers, oregon. u.p.s. or fed rd ex. and this is critical. every day, hundreds of our veterans get their drugs delivered by the united states postal service. many of them in rural areas. hard to serve. and it is sure heck hard for them to get to the v.a. hospital or get into town. we need to stop burdenening the postal office. once we take this $5 billion a year burden off of them -- $50 billion into a theoretical account to pay for health care for future postal employees who

haven't been born there and that's more than enough. this doesn't score in any way. so that's why we have 300 bipartisan sponsors. and i urge my colleagues at long last to undo this stupidity. with that, i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: mr. speaker, i love the passion. he only problem is, it's misplaced. that if this bill ould truly solve the business model that the postal service have, i would support it. but the gentleman is wrong. this does not solve the problem. a pass on $5 hem billion a year, and they're still losing money. issue.the whole that's the crux of the issue.

so i would recognize the from north carolina, ms. foxx, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina recognized. s. foxx: thank you, my colleague from north carolina, and thank you, mr. speaker. i agree with my colleague from carolina. let us not confuse what we're today. about here i very much appreciate the postal employees who deliver the mail to my house, when i go into a post office and need to mail things. people.wonderful give great service. that's not the issue here. issue is, are we going to and properly the retirement health care services? i'm not necessarily opposed to united states postal service's requirement to refund its retiree health benefits. doing so, though, in this manner disastrous for the american taxpayer. this bill's elimination of the

requirement without instituting any reforms to status, as my cal colleague has said, would simply mean congress to play the game kicking the can down the road. the fact is that there's already of public ory retireme retirement accounts that have dramatically cut retiree benefits or to rely on a bailout as a result of ot fully prefunding their plans. and this is a snowball going down the hill that's going to pick up steam. only way to pay -- off the unfunded re the retaree fund would be a taxpayer bailout. task why the trump's force issued formal opposition

to removing the prefunding requirement. to quote the task force. the task force does not believe general policy should change or that the liability for usps health benefits should be taxpayers.the i agree. to be clear, this bill moves a payers one step closer to bailout of the usps, and we should oppose this change on the taxpayers' behalf. i yield back. mrs. maloney: i yield three to the distinguished chairman, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. connolly: boy, what you just heard from my friend from north carolina couldn't be further the truth. this is not a taxpayer bailout. opposite. it is exactly what mr. defazio,

y friend from oregon, described. this is writing a -- this is a wrong that congress created in a lame-duck session and put -- 2006 and put a burden on the postal service that no one on the planet is to meet. we have created that problem. that's to fix it, and what we're trying to do with this bill. panacea.a that's why we're working on bipartisan legislation to have a comprehensive reform bill that will address a significant amount of time for the postal build a new business model. my friend, my other friend from meadows, i na, mr. was referring to the other north carolinian, has been working diligently on a bipartisan basis to try to find the right fix. i'm looking forward to that bipartisan solution. that doesn't mean we stop everything and fix nothing.

may not return the postal ervice to solvency, but it takes a liability off the books that's real, that hurts them, makes it harder for them to recover, and to figure out how adjust to changes in technology and marketplace. this bill.i support i look forward to its passage on a bipartisan basis, and i hope of thisfold the concept bill to a larger bill. we he congresswoman said, need a comprehensive approach to the postal service after we address and fix this problem congress created. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlelady reserves. north tleman from carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: that the speaker. i thank the gentleman from virginia. to highlight his work on this particular issue. agree with him, that this doff tely will have to be

tailed in to anything we do to fix the postal service. of letting my colleagues express their ull-throated support of this bill, i recognize the gentleman from illinois for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is two minutes.r mr. davis: thank you to my good friend, mr. meadows. ou know, you and i have been working on issues like this relating to the long-term postal service for many years, and i look forward to standing on this near with you in the future. when we come up with a good omprehensive solution that addresses issues like this at the same time. but thank you for your of ership and your support the postal service and the great make up one s that of the greatest services we have in our country. unfortunately, the postal forced to play by a different set of rules, and those are unfair. corrects this by repealing the 2006 mandate that

prefund future retiree health benefits. in 2006, the postal enhancement y and act mandated that the postal ervice prefund retiree health benefits decades in advance, something no other public or is forced to rise do. over the years, this mandate has and damage tocuts postal service's ability to new delivery vehicles. i've always been a steadfast supporter of the postal service and its workers. fact, after speaking to many of the postal unions in my district, like the letter rural letter he carriers, i proudly co-sponsored this piece of legislation. working with to my colleagues on this issue and other important pieces of impact our that postal unions, such as opposing the privatization of the postal protecting the six-day delivery door-to-door our rural post offices. we have to work together.

our ed to make sure that postal service remains viable. urge a yes vote on this bill, and i look forward to working with all of you in this future and i the yield back. mr. meadows: i thank the gentleman for his comments and i would also just join him. we got a number of great unions the privilege of getting to know over this time s we looked at comprehensive reform and your acknowledging at and willingness to look something that actually solves the problem is to be applauded. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. two maloney: i yield minutes to brenda lawrence, a representative from the great two minutes.igan, the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from michigan is recognized for two minutes. mrs. lawrence: thank you. i rise today in support of h.r. 2382. this legislation is a positive

first step, and i emphasize to address the significantly more complex issue solvency he financial crisis plaguing the united service.stal after a 30-year career in the i tal service -- and i think am the only member of congress who's actually a letter -- i coame to congress with the intention of helping strong urn to the financial standing through legislative reform. decreased mail volume plays a role, there are other to ons congress must take provide the postal service with he flexibility needed to reverse and amend the down-ward financial trend. years, i worked with several colleagues on the versight committee, including representative connelly, lynch, amazing and the late chairman elijah cummings to

ntroduce comprehensive postal reform. as the house stands posed to 2382, i look forward to continuing to work with my olleagues on the committee to introduce a comprehensive postal package that will provide the postal service with the reform needed to help lessen the financial battle. i want to thank chairwoman aloney for her leadership on this issue, and i look forward work to build d the postal service fairness act, and i urge my colleagues to support. yield back.d i the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. fitzpatrick: thank you, mr. meadows. mr. speaker. i rise today to support -- 2382, the pport h.r. usps fairness act.

unfair, prefunding mandate for the postal service solve the most pressing financial problem facing our letter carriers and united ices across the states. mr. speaker, the usps is the only government entity, the only which is mandated to prefund its retirees' health benefits. postal service's financial losses over the past directly due0% are and linked to this requirement. this is an outdated policy which has forced the postal service into a horrible financial which has prevented it from investing in resources that will benefit all of our communities no matter where we live. moreover, mr. speaker, this legislation has widespread support from the national letter carriers, the american postal workers nion, and the national postal mail handlers union. this bipartisan bill will usps' financial help by shoring up that funding and ensure it has the resources to

the postal service for all americans. and i urge all of my colleagues to oth sides of the aisle support this legislation. this is the priority for our workers in addition to six-day delivery as well as door-to-door service. three done et all for postal workers, letter carriers, and post offices that of our communities. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from north carolina reserves. he gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i yield two representative schakowsky, jan schakowsky from illinois. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from illinois is two minutes.r schakowsky: i thank the gentlelady for yielding to me. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 2383, the usps fairness act. the united states postal service

essential part of american life. more than 231shed delivered on has its promise every one of those years. was the first in postmaster general in the united states. while is it is not an official slogan, neither snow, nore rain give or gloom of night them their appointed mission. we know with more than billion pieces of mail delivered each year and 90% approval rating that we must do all that we can to support them. today, members of congress are taking the important step to lp postal workers across the

country. u.s. postal employees have been forced to pre-fund the retiree health benefits 75 years in advance, making them the only agency that must pre-fund future employees that have not been born yet. this ridiculous law has caused the u.s. p agency thatostal ser billions of dollars each year and caused postal employees uncertainty in their work. this cannot continue. o i gee with the 300 of my colleagues that we must reverse this absurd policy the united states postal service act will repeal the pre-funding that is mandated and allow the united states postal service to return to its pay as you go system. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: i appreciate all the points that my friends opposite are making. i made some of the very same points when we talk about reform bills. the problem is all the wonderful things that they are talking about in this bill do not exist. they are not making the payments. they haven't made the payments since 2010. so how does giving relief from a payment you are not making suddenly make the postal service viable? it doesn't. i would yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, who will give you an opposing view from our side. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding. the united states postal service has a history as old as our nation. our founders believed so important that they put it in the constitution and people don't realize that.

that is the least quoted document here. the rural communities in southern illinois depend on the postal service. it is the only means for small businesses to engage in commerce and for rural residents to receive packages. the postal service is facing many challenges but it is taking several important steps to provide new services mandated by the modern economy. unfortunately, it can't accomplish these reforms with one hand tied behind its back. the postal service is the only entity with this requirement. i doubt any federal agency would be able to meet its goals and obligations to citizens and taxpayers if they were likewise to pre-fund their health benefit. the underlying legislation helps correct this. it does not impose additional costs on taxpayers and will help ensure the postal service can continue to serve our community

as it has since our nation's founding. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from north carolina reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i call upon my good friend and colleague, mr. blumenauer, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is ecognized for three minutes. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentlelady's courtesy for permitting me to speak on this bill. i feel very strongly about this. the united states postal service moves almost half the world's mail. is the most popular federal agency, highest rating. and in fact, if you look at the interaction that we have with postal workers, in my community and elsewhere, they are deeply

-- they are beloved. i had a father-in-law who was a postal worker and holiday season, he was burdened down with cookies and fruit cake and brandy that was given to him by the people on his route. what we have seen, unfortunately, since 2006, as part of an assault on the finest postal service in the world. you have heard it said before on the floor, this is the only -- not just the only federal agency -- i don't think there is any entity in the united states that is required to pre-fund health benefits for people who haven't yet been born. , that might be employed, 20, 30, 40 years from now. this is part of an effort on behalf of some that has a jihad against the u.s. postal service. i had a session in my community

two weeks ago where we heard about a bizarre experiment on casing mail, taking that away from the letter carriers. and as a result in serious disruption in our community by people who are disconnected from the actual service that is given. postal jobs are the best jobs in many rural and small-town america and there are some who feel, they are paid too much and too generous benefits or retirement. it's hogwash. and they provide that much in small town and rural america. a beloved service and a service that provides an essential connection for virtually the entire connection six days a week. and if we get our act together, there's more benefit that can be provided. get rid of this stupid

pre-funding and give them more flexibility. why aren't we using the u.s. postal service to help us with the crens us? why are we hiring temporary employees? why can't we use the postal service to deal with problems in the future if we have an outbreak -- the anthrax sort of activity in terms of lethal threats. use the postal service. give them the flexibility to provide more service. respect the men and women who work there and stop this stupid effort to undercut the finest postal service in the world. i appreciate the committee bringing this legislation forward and i appreciate the bipartisan support. and maybe it's time we get our act straight to help them fulfill their full potential. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: i had do need to connect -- correct a few things that the gentleman from oregon just addressed. this is not support or being against this bill is not an attack on the postal service. there is no one who has invested more time. i can promise you when i came to the congress, fixing the postal service was not on my bucket list. and as we have invested time -- and i see my good friend, mr. lynch, and mr. connolly. we have invested days, if not weeks and months to try to address this. the gentleman from oregon is just not correct. this particular bill, while it may be part of the solution, gives them know flexibility and gives them know additional cash flow. they are still going to go out of business if we don't come together and get something worked out for all of us to make

sure that we not only have a postal system that works, but one that is not a mere shadow of its former self. i will say this. i want to make sure that my postal unions and all of those that are watching very intently. you have made an impact on this member from north carolina. you have expressed, mr. speaker and let me know exactly how important this is. and yet, at the same time, i'm afraid i cannot support this bill, because it does not do what we need to do and that is address the problem today. this just kicks the can down the road and unfortunately, it doesn't kick it down the road long enough to allow the postal workers to depend on the very system that employs them. with that, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i yield three minutes top representative lynch from massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for three minutes. mr. lynch: thank you for your kindness and courtesy afforded to me. i do want to say that some other members in this chamber, i think one count, i had 17 of my relatives, including my mom and several of her sisters, two of my sisters and brother-in-law and all my cousins who worked for the united states postal service. sort of a family business. and i do thank the gentleman from north carolina. we spent days, if not weeks, if not months arguing over the contours of this legislation. i want to thank mr. defazio and i rise in strong support of his bill. and i also thank my colleague, mr. connolly, from virginia for his work on this as well and our dear colleague, elijah cummings

who put his heart and soul into finding a solution. look, i do agree with the gentleman from north carolina's comments that this does not solve everything. it does not. but it is an important element of a bill that we republicans and democrats passed out of committee unanimously without dissent in a previous session. so it is a very important element of what we are trying to do. and there is no dispute what the gentleman from oregon's earlier remarks, that we don't ask any other group within government to fund their retiree health benefits this way. this was an idea that i think came out of a time when before email and before the use of social media, the volume of mail within the postal service being delivered every single day could

sustain the current configuration of retiree health benefits. those days are long gone. and we have to figure out a way that will keep the postal service viable going forward. this does not solve everything. but boy, i'll tell you, this solves a lot and it buys us time to craft those other pieces that need to come together as well. so i would argue that we should not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. this is a solid change here. this is something that i think people need to understand, what we are requiring of the postal service right now is that when a new employee, when a new employee comes into the postal service, we have to set aside the money on day one for their eventual retirement, while every

other collective bargaining agreement and pension system periodly reassesses what the demands are as that person gets closer to retirement. but that's the critical time to know whether or not there is sufficient resources and guarantee that certain resources are there for that person to enjoy the retirement and health benefits that they have earned. so, with that, i just ask my colleagues to vote in support of this bill. i support mr. defazio's bill wholeheartedly and i appreciate the courtesy and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: i know everyone is tuned in paying attention to this unbelievable debate. for all of you who are tuned in on c-span as we debate this, i

think it's important that i share a couple of sentences from the u.s. postal service. it's not from my point of view, but this is what they have to say about this bill. it would neither reduce the underlying r.h.b. liability nor prove our cash flow or our long-term financial position. it would not impact the liquidity crisis that we have. those are not my words but the words of those that are closest to the financial responsibility, the postal services themselves. if the gentlewoman is prepared to close, i would recommend to my colleagues a no vote. and i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: members are further reminded to address their remarks to a chair not to

a perceived viewing audience. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i urge passage of h.r. 2382 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2382. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- >> i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is not recognized. >> mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady will suspend. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: i ask for a recorded vote. i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays and

remain standing until counted. having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. further proceedings on this question will be postponed. . . the peaker pro tempore: clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3941, a bill to enhance the innovation, and availability of cloud computing services used in he federal government by establishing the federal risk and authorization management program within the general administration, and by establishing a risk management continuous n and monitoring process to enable the federal government to leverage computing services using a risk-based approach consistent information ral security modernization act of cloud-based operations

and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. unanimous y: i ask consent that all members may have five legislative days to evise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measures before us. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. first, i'd like to thank my friend, and representative connelly and -- representatives connelly and for their bipartisan work on this very important measure. the federal risk and management program thorth act would codify -- act would codify -- authorization act would codify program.mp first established in 2011, fedramp is an important program certifies cloud service

providers who wish to offer ervices to the federal government. the fedramp certification process, outlined in this bill, comprehensive and facilitates easier agency adoption, promotes agency reuse, and encourages savings. fedramp process used a risk-based approach to ensure the reliability of any cloud platform that hosts unclassified government fedramp process data. a significant provision of this federal secure cloud advisory committee. his committee will be tasked with key responsibilities, including providing technical xpertise on cloud products and services and identifying ways to reduce cost associated with fedramp certification. director of office of management and budget will

ensure that they are not using without vice providers authorization. this bill supports a critical nation's keep our information secured in cloud environments. i upport this bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. of h.r. 3941.ort his -- the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, has been on this front. risk and l authorization management program, fedramp, will allow work on cybersecurity for cloud services and provides a process for agencies to follow procuring cloud systems to ensure that those systems meet controls.ersecurity

the gentlewoman, the chairman of the full committee, has on a number of issues as it relates to this since there's no opposition that i'm aware of, my remarks for i'd reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i yield as much time as he may consume to from entative connelly virginia, the chair -- from florida, the chair of the subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. connolly: i want to thank my dear friend of the full committee. i want to salute my partner and friend on our subcommittee, mr. meadows. chaired the subcommittee in the previous mr. connolly: i want to thank c. i was his ranking member and we reversed roles, but our partnership continues. to modernize the federal government, bringing it into the 21st century, in terms of information technology. we know when we don't make those

investments, bad things can of had a. other -- w that the bad things can happen. we just saw that the other night in the iowa caucuses. 3941 codifies the federal risk and authorization program, known as fedramp, established in 2011 to provide a cost-effective, risk-based approach for the adoption and use of cloud nothing -- fect computing technologies within the federal government. fedramp standardizes security for the nts authorization and ongoing assessments for information systems across the federal government. to hort, fedramp seeks reduce the redundancies of federal cloud migration and to agencies quickly adopt cloud technologies. happy to say fed dl ramp has the a -- fedramp has of this val administration. last june, the trump administration issued its strategyloud computing qualitied cloud smart -- called

reaffirmed itsch support for fedramp. it acknowledged the importance fedramp in helping agencies modernize their information technology systems. also highlighted improvements the program has past few d over the years that resulted in a loss -- to operate a cloud service provider. however, the administration also noted that this is still a lack the ciprocity across agencies in taking advantage of products.thorized without that reciprocities, agencies end up duplicating the process of cloud service offerings, leading to inefficiencies for both the federal government and providers. in july, the subcommittee on government operations held a earing to look at what the g.s.a. has done right in

administering the program and fedramp can andh should be improved. the message both from agency and witnesses was clear. program,is an important that if carried out effectively saves money for both agencies and businesses hoping to provide those services. fedramp authorization act codifies the program and addresses many of the concerns in july by both the administration and private sector witnesses. bill reduces duplication of security assessments and other obstacles adoption of cloud products by establishing -- and -- a s really important presumption of adequacy for cloud technologies that have received fedramp certification. going to 33 different windows 33 different processes costs way too much money, takes frankly, ch time, and is unnecessary.

so the presumption of adequacy the cloud service offering has met baseline security standards already program and y the should be considered approved for use across the federal except where very specialized services would be required. also facilitates reuse f cloud technologies that already received an authorization operate by equiring them to check a centralized and secured extent ry and to the an e before conducting independent investigation of their own. fedramp e to automatic processes was another key subcommittee's hearing. this bill requires the g.s.a. work toward automating their processes which will lead to ore standard security assessments and continuous monitoring of cloudsubcommitteeo increase the efficiency for both

providers and agencies. establishes, as the distinguished chairwoman indicated, a federal secure advisory committee to ensure dialogue among g.s.a., and y cybersecurity procurement officials, and industry in order to have effective and ongoing in acquisition and adoption of cloud products by government. finally, the bill authorizes the rogram at $20 million, provide -- at an annual level -- providing significant resources secure cloud technologies available to agency adoption. g.s.a., with o.m.b., industry stakeholders, and our minority counterparts to ensure this bill makes needed improvements to the fedramp programs and griffeys the -- and gives the program the flexibility to grow and adopt to changing technologies. it's consistent with the administration's goals, and i urge adoption of the bill. back.hat i yield the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields. the gentlelady from new york reserves. north tleman from carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. thank the gentleman for his leadership on this. i will say that i've had a number of conversations in with stakeholders who have offered some what we can do, so i look forward to working with the gentleman opposite on criticaln address this issue. i would urge support and this measure, and i will yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the yields back. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i of h.r. 3941, as amended, and yield back the balance of my time. tempore: the o gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the as amended.41, those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. chair, 2/3ion of the having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? i move that the house suspend the rules and 375. to the bill s. the speaker pro tempore: the title of report the the bill. clerk: a bill to improve efforts to identify and reduce overnmentwide improper payments, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. maloney, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. maloney: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to evise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material measure before us. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. recognized.lelady is mrs. maloney: improper payments include overpayments, payments recipient, and those that lack proper

documentation. they are a long standing and significant problem in the federal government. fiscal year 2018 alone, they than $151 billion. congress has passed a number of over the past two decades to try and address this problem, problem unfortunately persists. information ayment integrity act, would consolidate the existing improper payment one place in the u.s. code and makes several changes identify and reduce improper payments. require agencies to develop plans to prevent improper payments and also dentify programs with the highest risk. it also would require the office f management and budget and inspectors general to issue guidance to agencies on how to on ove annual reporting improper payments.

finally, the bill will create a working group of federal and nonfederal partners to develop strategies for of essing the key causes improper payments such as fraud determinations and state managed federal benefits programs. tom t to thank senators carper, ron johnson,goer and mic gary peters, braun for their -- and mike brawn for their work on this bipartisan measure. want to thank senator carper for his long standing dedication for reducing improper payments. urge my colleagues to support this important measure to reduce and fraud in federal governments and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from north recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of s. 375, the payment integrity information act of 2019. alone in t i'm not addressing the speaker on the house, but there's